VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A bike fell off a bike rack on Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood's Ford Taurus on Interstate 95 Friday night and damaged three vehicles whose drivers couldn't avoid hitting it, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
"I was coming back from New Smyrna and somewhere on I-95 my God d--- bike fell off the bike rack and I just saw it when I got home because it's dark," Chitwood said in a call to dispatch.
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He said he searched for his bike in his neighborhood but couldn't find it. Officials said a strap broke, causing the bike to fall off Chitwood's Ford Taurus, which is owned by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
"I hope to God nobody got hurt," Chitwood told the operator after learning there were three active calls on northbound I-95, south of mile marker 261.
Three vehicles were damaged from the falling bike, but no one was injured.
"Somebody had something fly off a trailer, or lose a trailer tire, I then hit it, it happened right in front of me. I then hit it, I have a front tire blowout," one woman said in a 911 call.
The woman, who was fighting back tears, said she had a 3-year-old child in the back seat when the accident happened. Her Ford Focus had to be towed from the scene, FHP said.
A Mazda also sustained undercarriage damage and a Ford Focus was left with a punctured right front tire and undercarriage damage, according to the crash report.
An FHP spokeswoman said Chitwood will not be ticketed because a broken strap caused the accident.
"Clearly, my bike came off the bike rack, I didn't realize it until I got home because you can't see, but thank God nobody is hurt," Chitwood said.