Tampa Man Charged with Hit and Run After Fatal Bicycle Accident

A Tampa man is facing charges after police say he fled the scene of an accident that left a bicyclist dead.

According to police, Aristeo Antonio Pascual was navigating his bicycle on the exit ramp from eastbound Interstate 4 to U.S. 301 in the pre-dawn hours of the day last Wednesday when a 2016 Mercedes 300C piloted by Christopher Jerimiah Cole allegedly struck Pascual.

Highway patrol investigators say the collision threw the 44-year-old man from his bicycle. He was mortally injured in the collision, succumbing to his injuries at the site of the crash. Investigators say they found fragments of a vehicle at the scene, and photos of the debris were distributed to local media in hopes of finding the vehicle from which the parts came.

Officers say the photos led to tips that resulted in an address for the vehicle, which troopers impounded within hours of the photos’ distribution.

The 44-year-old Cole surrendered to police a short time later. Cole, who lists environmental waste as his profession, was booked into Hillsborough County Jail shortly thereafter on a single charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. He was released early the next day after posting a $15,000 bond.

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