Tampa St. Petersburg Injury Lawyer Blog

On November 20, a car driven by a Tampa resident hit and killed a St. Petersburg bicyclist.

Stephen Caputo of St. Petersburg was riding his Schwinn beach cruiser at Belcher Rd and 118th Avenue in Pinellas Park around 5 a.m., when William Colwell of Tampa, driving a Chrysler, struck Caputo's bike from behind. The victim reportedly hit the car's windshield and was then thrown into the road.

According to police, Colwell stopped after the incident, but then a second vehicle also struck the victim's bike, and kept driving. Caputo, who was said to not be wearing a helmet but was wearing a reflective vest, died at the scene.

The bike did have a small rear light, and a flashlight was taped to the handlebars, but authorities weren't sure if the lights had been working at the time of the accident.

While police investigated, the southbound lanes surrounding the scene of the accident were closed for several hours. Traffic charges are still pending, as Colwell claimed he did not see the bicyclist.

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On November 23, 2009, somewhere between 200 and 300 students at the University of Tampa gathered at a candlelight vigil in a campus courtyard to mourn the death of their classmate, Erik Nicoletti, who was tragically killed in a hit and run accident over the weekend.

Nicoletti, the 20-year old junior at UT, was walking with several friends to the Metro Food Mart across from campus on Saturday night at about 1:15am. As they crossed W. Kennedy Blvd just west of North Blvd heading back to campus, a motorist hit and killed Nicoletti, and injured one of his friends who was visiting from out of town.

Nicolletti was taken off life support on Monday afternoon. His family was reportedly encouraged and overwhelmed at the support of the student body and of the Tampa community, as well as glad that an arrest was made. The other victim, Nicoletti's friend, Cree Alisha Riley, 19, likely has a long road to recovery. Visiting Nicoletti from out of town, she suffered a broken jaw, hip and legs.

The driver of the vehicle, Andres Trujillo, 27, fled the scene, but officers from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office found the vehicle, abandoned ,shortly after the accident. Trujillo turned himself into authorities Sunday evening. Police records indicate past charges against Trujillo included disorderly intoxication, robbery, and imprisonment for attacking an officer. Charges against the driver, originally for leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury, are anticipated to be upgraded to leaving the scene of a crash involving death.

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