Troopers search for driver accused of hitting bicyclist after running red light

DR PHILLIPS, Fla. - Content warning: The dashcam video included in the news story above may be difficult or disturbing to watch for some viewers.

A couple had just gone for a bicycle ride and were about 50 yards from home when something terrible happened – and it was all caught on a vehicle's dashcam video.

"Can’t believe some people would do that," Brad Elliott said. He's talking about the driver who hit his wife Sheryl in a crosswalk and took off. 

"I heard my wife scream and I see her go down to the pavement. I wasn’t hit or anything. It was me intentionally falling off my bike to keep from running over my wife," he said.

Troopers say the driver ran a red light at Conroy Windermere Road and Dr Phillips Boulevard on Sunday, just before 5:30 p.m., hitting the 65-year-old woman.

Investigators say they’re trying to enhance the video and get a tag number. 

"It was totally surreal because I never seen it happen so long after the light had turned red. It wasn’t one of these things where it was really close and accelerated a little to get past the light."

But as Sheryl laid there screaming, Brad says something incredible happened. "The most amazing thing was, it seemed like there must have been a dozen people that stopped," he said.

He says one person even treated his wife on scene. "I don’t know who the gentleman was and would love to meet him. He apparently had some type of medical training," Brad said. 

He tells us how Sheryl is in excruciating pain and may lose vision in one eye. "She has a lot of scrapes, a lot of cuts, bruises, things like that. She also has a non-displaced fracture of the orbital socket which is left side right up here," he said. 

The couple’s daughter, Kristina, credits her mom’s new electric bicycle for helping to protect her because it’s very heavy, and it didn’t go airborne during the collision. "I genuinely believe this bike saved her life. She wasn’t wearing a helmet."

Brad says this is a very dangerous intersection, where people often speed and crash. "My daughter was hit by somebody running a red light there. We actually lost a dog out there years back."
He’d like to see more patrols in the neighborhood to catch drivers like the one involved in the crash. He says it's a 2009 Toyota Corolla that may have backend damage on the driver's side.

Troopers say they're also looking at footage from the red light camera to see if they can identify the driver.

If you have any information about this crash on Sunday evening call the Florida Highway Patrol or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.