Bikepacker67
05-24-06, 09:07 PM
Source (http://cfn13.com/StoryHeadline.aspx?id=15878)
Orlando police say a man intentionally ran over and killed a woman on a bicycle Wednesday. He then drove his van into a house and tried to set himself and a firefighter on fire.
Witness Eddie Harper said, "They said somebody was on a bike, so I just sort of assumed that was her. Then when I got around here and looked, sure enough it was her."
Eddie Harper thinks his girlfriend was coming to visit Wednesday morning, riding her bike along Tallokas Avenue. She never made it to Harper's house.
Just after nine o'clock, Orlando police say a man driving a passenger van ran down the woman, backed up and hit her again.
Sgt. Barbara Jones from the Orlando Police Department said, "The van proceeded, after striking the person on the bicycle, it appears to intentionally run into a residence."
Firefighters arrived just minutes later. When a lieutenant tried to help the driver out of the van, investigators say the driver doused himself and the firefighter with gasoline. According to detectives, the driver had a striker and tried to ignite the flammable liquid.
Sgt. Barbara Jones said, "Orlando Police Department got there. They were able to extricate or take the guy out of the driver's seat and now he's being transferred, I believe to the hospital and we are detaining him in this incident."
Investigators are now trying to figure out if the suspect knew the bicyclist before the crash.
They will release the cyclist name once her next of kin is notified.
Orlando police say a man intentionally ran over and killed a woman on a bicycle Wednesday. He then drove his van into a house and tried to set himself and a firefighter on fire.
Witness Eddie Harper said, "They said somebody was on a bike, so I just sort of assumed that was her. Then when I got around here and looked, sure enough it was her."
Eddie Harper thinks his girlfriend was coming to visit Wednesday morning, riding her bike along Tallokas Avenue. She never made it to Harper's house.
Just after nine o'clock, Orlando police say a man driving a passenger van ran down the woman, backed up and hit her again.
Sgt. Barbara Jones from the Orlando Police Department said, "The van proceeded, after striking the person on the bicycle, it appears to intentionally run into a residence."
Firefighters arrived just minutes later. When a lieutenant tried to help the driver out of the van, investigators say the driver doused himself and the firefighter with gasoline. According to detectives, the driver had a striker and tried to ignite the flammable liquid.
Sgt. Barbara Jones said, "Orlando Police Department got there. They were able to extricate or take the guy out of the driver's seat and now he's being transferred, I believe to the hospital and we are detaining him in this incident."
Investigators are now trying to figure out if the suspect knew the bicyclist before the crash.
They will release the cyclist name once her next of kin is notified.