Street Sweeper Strikes, Kills Pedestrian In Lakeland

LAKELAND, FL — A 70-year-old man has died after being struck by a city of Lakeland street sweeper Thursday.

According to Lakeland police, at 4:43 p.m. Terry Pelham, 57, a city street sweeper with the city for 17 years, was working on the northbound lane of North Tennessee Avenue and turned right onto East Oak Street. After turning the corner, Pelham said he felt an impact.

After checking his surroundings and seeing nothing, Pelham proceeded to move forward and saw a man lying in the road behind the street sweeper.

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.

At this time, traffic homicide detectives are unsure what the pedestrian was doing in the roadway at the time of the crash. Detectives are still attempting to locate the dead man's next of kin.