Sarasota County Police Search for Driver Behind Road Rage Hit-and-Run

Video taken by a concerned civilian was recently released by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in relation to an incident that took place this past Sunday evening along a two-lane one-way road in Sarasota.  The video, which was taken by a motorist several car lengths away from the incident in question, shows a motorcycle driving beside a grey Mazda.  Due to some event that was not captured in the video, the motorcyclist and the Mazda’s driver were involved in a dispute (presumably due to a previous incident instigated by one or the other of the motorists).

As the video progresses, we see the motorcyclist, who is in the right lane of the southbound road, move their bike close to the front passenger window of the Mazda, which is driving in the leftmost southern lane of the same road.  The motorcyclist then smacks the window of the Mazda with their gloved fist.  Moments later, the driver of the Mazda suddenly swerves into the right lane, pushing the motorcyclist off of the road and into the curb.  The bike can be seen to bounce aggressively into the concrete berm, and the motorcyclist is thrown off.  For a moment, the cyclist either clings to or is stuck to the side of the Mazda, but then they fall free and crash to the ground while the person behind the wheel of the Mazda continues to drive away.

The video was initially posted on social media by the person who took it, and detectives with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office are using it as a key piece of evidence as they conduct a search for the car and, more importantly, its driver.

At the time of this writing, the condition of the motorcyclist is not known, although it would seem from the violence of the collision in the video that they must have suffered from some injuries in the crash.

The Mazda, other than being grey, has a large white decal covering its back window; although it is possible that the driver of the car has since removed the decal in an attempt to escape detection.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.