Cocoa Pedestrian Struck by Two Cars, Police Search Underway for One Driver

The Florida Highway Patrol spoke to reporters this past Sunday regarding an accident involving a single pedestrian and at least two vehicles in Cocoa that left the pedestrian dead and the FHP and Cocoa Police Department searching for person guilty of a hit-and-run.  The facts that we currently know revolve around a 57-year-old man who was on foot along the northern lanes of U.S. 1, close to Broadway Boulevard, when he was struck by a passing car.  

The car, a 2005 Chevy Malibu, was being driven by an unnamed 35-year-old man from Cocoa.  It was shortly before reaching the point where Broadway Boulevard and U.S. 1 intersect that the car and the pedestrian came into contact with one another.  In his statement to the police, the 35-year-old driver of the car said that they noticed a person in the roadway just before colliding with them.  The driver of the Malibu also stated that the person was not standing up.

This second fact is unusual and will likely become one of the focal points of the police investigation.  If the pedestrian was, as the Malibu’s driver suggests, not standing up, then what had happened to cause them to be lying prone on a major roadway?

After striking the man, the driver of the Malibu pulled their car off of the road.  It was while the police were on their way to the incident that another car, also traveling northbound on U.S. 1 came down the road.  This second car also collided with the now badly injured pedestrian.  Unlike the driver of the Malibu, the driver of this second car decided that whatever had just happened was not worth their time and drove away from the scene.  This choice left them in a precarious position as it immediately made them subject of a manhunt conducted by police throughout Cocoa and Brevard County.  When the individual in question is caught, they will likely receive numerous charges—charges that would probably not have arisen had the driver just stayed at the scene and spoken with the authorities when they arrived.

Due to the extensive damage done to the pedestrian by the two cars, he was not able to be saved by the paramedics when they arrived and he was declared dead by the medical examiner, although it was not clear if he died at the scene itself or after being transported to a hospital.

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.