ORLANDO, Fla. – Almost a month after 49-year-old Jorge Arias was hit and killed on Colonial Drive while riding his bicycle, the man accused of hitting him is behind bars.
The victim's wife, Yoli Arias, heard about the arrest from social media and friends.
Daniel Strickland, 43, turned himself into Cocoa Police Monday.
"I was excited and then I was angry that it took him so long to do it," Yoli said.
According to the Highway Patrol, Arias was riding his bicycle on Colonial Drive in Orlando around 6:30 a.m. June 27 when he was fatally hit by the 2007 Honda SUV that Strickland was driving.
His body was found hours later in a watery ditch. He was wearing a reflective vest and had lights on the back of his bike.
Pieces of the Honda SUV involved were found at the crash site. Surveillance video showing Strickland at the scene of the incident also helped investigators. He admitted to police that he was in the area at the time of the crash.
"I think that his guilty conscience got the best of him and probably with me appearing on TV and all my friends and family and all my support system ... I think he had no choice but to turn himself in," Yoli Arias said.
As Strickland faces his future trial, Yoli is hoping to make life safer for future bicyclists.
"I am an advocate for people who don't know that they have a light on. I am going to speak for them and tell them that they need to put lights on. Wear your vest. People have to see you. Especially when you're on 50. You have to be lit up like a Christmas tree, honestly," Yoli said.
She stopped a man biking along Colonial Drive the same day Strickland was arrested.
"I said, 'Sir, I just lost my husband three weeks ago to a bicycle accident up here that killed him and I just want to let you know that your back light is not working. Your front light is working and you have a vest on, but your back light is not on,'" Yoli said.
She's pushing the Florida Department of Transportation for a sidewalk from Third Street to State Road 520 along Colonial Drive.
It's the four-mile stretch her husband would take to work.
"They have got to understand something. I am not going to quit. I'm too legit to quit. I'm serious, you guys don't understand. I am not stopping. This is the beginning," Yoli said.
FDOT is conducting a study along the corridor of Colonial Drive where Jorge was killed to determine the speed of 85 percent of the drivers, FDOT spokeswoman Jessica Ottaviano said.
"We also consider existing conditions and other factors on the corridor," FDOT spokeswoman Jessica Ottaviano said. "It is important to not set the speed limit artificially as even too low of speeds can cause concerns."