Truck kills bicyclist after attempted traffic stop

ABOVE: A red Dodge Ram rests atop a smaller red truck in the parking lot of Ike's Liquor Lounge. BELOW: A bicycle lies at the scene of the crash. The yellow tarp covers the bicyclist's body. [STEPHANIE GARRY | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG -- A pickup struck and killed a bicyclist late Wednesday after a police officer tried to pull the driver over near 22nd Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street S, police said.

About 11 p.m., the red Dodge Ram headed north and apparently tried to turn left at 13th Avenue S. It hit a man on a bicycle and a pedestrian. The bicyclist died, and the other person suffered life-threatening injuries, according to police.

The truck ended up resting atop a smaller red pickup in the parking lot of Ike's Liquor Lounge. It appeared that the truck may have flipped over at least one other car.

A woman who said the man on the bike was her brother became hysterical when she arrived at the scene. A yellow tarp covered his body.

Within minutes of the crash, more than 100 people surrounded yellow police tape. Rumors circulated that a police cruiser had been chasing the truck.

Police found the female passenger, but the driver had apparently fled.

Cedrick Collier, 30, said he was standing next to his car when the crash occurred. He looked at the wreckage behind police tape early Thursday. His car was a few feet from the red truck.

He said he heard screams and screeching and saw the truck flip several times. He said it was "like a movie."

View video from the scene

Stephanie Garry, Times staff writer

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