Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Name Not Disclosed
Age : 52
Gender : Male
Race : Unknown
Date : 10/18/2021
Location : I-4 and Florida State Road 559
City : Polk City
County : Polk
State : Florida
Agency : Florida Highway Patrol
Officer(s) :Not Disclosed
Cause of Death : Vehicle
Event : Killed by police vehicle intervention
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 10/18/2021, at approximately 7:30 p.m., a 52-year-old Lakeland man was riding a 2015 Harley-Davidson westbound on Interstate 4 near State Road 559 when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper pulled his patrol cruiser into the motorcycle's path. The trooper was assisting a highway construction crew that was installing lane-closure warnings for road-repair work along the inside lane of I-4.
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According to FHP, the trooper pulled from the construction area into the westbound travel lanes as the motorcycle approached. The motorcycle collided with the right side of the FHP cruiser, throwing the rider from the Harley and onto the interstate. A tractor-trailer traveling behind the collision then struck the fallen motorcyclist. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Contemporary reporting identifies the trooper as a 30-year-old Tampa man but does not publicly name him. FHP also withheld the motorcyclist's identity under Florida's Marsy's Law, identifying him only as a 52-year-old Lakeland resident.
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The crash was not the result of a police pursuit or an attempted traffic stop. The fatal sequence began when the FHP cruiser entered the active interstate lane while the motorcyclist was approaching. Public reporting does not provide the cruiser’s speed, the motorcycle's speed, the distance between them when the trooper entered the lane, or whether the patrol vehicle's emergency lights were activated at the moment of the collision.
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DISPOSITION:
Florida Highway Patrol investigated the fatal collision. No publicly reported criminal charge against the trooper resulted from the crash.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Florida Highway Patrol did not publicly identify the 30-year-old Tampa trooper who was driving the patrol cruiser that entered the motorcycle's path.
SOURCE LINKS :
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/motorcyclist-killed-after-crash-with-fhp-cruiser-semi-on-i-4
https://www.clickorlando.com/traffic/2021/10/19/motorcyclist-killed-when-struck-by-florida-highway-patrol-cruiser-run-over-by-big-rig/
https://www.fox13news.com/news/motorcyclist-killed-in-crash-with-fhp-cruiser-tractor-trailer-on-i-4-in-polk-county
https://patch.com/florida/lakeland/motorcyclist-hit-twice-fatal-crash-involving-patrol-car-truck
