ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 13-year-old Orlando boy was struck and killed while riding a bike Wednesday night in an Orange County neighborhood, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The hit-and-run fatal crash was reported at 7:44 p.m. on Montello Drive at Tree Ridge Lane in the Arbor Ridge West subdivision near the Econ Trail.
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The FHP said the boy was riding east on Montello Drive when he was hit by a 2021 Toyota Tacoma that was traveling west. The pickup truck then ran over the boy, and the driver did not stop, according to an FHP crash report.
The boy was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the FHP said.
Eric Esteras, a neighbor in the subdivision where the boy was killed, said drivers speeding in the area is a common occurrence.
“From that corner to here, they’re doing about 60 mph,” Esteras said. “They think it’s a racetrack.”
But while he and his other neighbors have experienced knocked down mailboxes in these accidents, he feels for the family going through the “unimaginable.”
“It’s just tragic. It’s inevitable that a tragedy like that happens,” Esteras said. “My message is: Respect that this is somebody’s home and slow down and be cautious.”
Orange County sheriff’s deputies located the pickup about a mile from the crash scene, and FHP troopers interviewed the owner of the vehicle. It’s not known if anyone has been arrested.
“For this family to have to lose their child, their 13-year-old son, right before Christmas, will forever change their lives,” FHP Lt. Kim Montes said.
She said drivers need to consider that there will be children running around and riding bikes in a neighborhood.
According to the FHP, fatal hit-and-run crashes have increased across Orange County over the last three years, with 13 reported in 2019, 12 reported in 2020 and 25 reported in 2021.
Data collected by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shows 271 hit-and-run fatalities in Florida in the past year.
“We need drivers to go back to the basics and stop caring about themselves and at least drive like they care about somebody else,” Montes said.
An investigation in connection to Wednesday’s hit-and-run is ongoing.