Hit-And-Run Driver Dragged Tampa Pedestrian Beneath SUV Before Fleeing

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is seeking two people involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Tampa on Saturday, Nov. 12.

A man was killed after being struck by two vehicles on Orient Road south of Zeimis Drive in East Tampa shortly after midnight, according to the sheriff's office.

According to investigators, a man was walking in the middle of Orient Road when he was struck by a car that knocked him into the northbound lane.

The driver of the car and several other drivers who witnessed the crash pulled over to help, but the sheriff's office said, while they were assisting the man, a silver SUV passed the stopped traffic, entered the northbound lanes of Orient Road and struck the man again, dragging him a short distance before turning onto Hillsborough Avenue, said the sheriff's office.

The man was taken to the hospital where he died, according to the sheriff's office.

Detectives said they believe the SUV that struck the man was an early 2000s silver Ford Explorer or Mercury Mountaineer.

The driver of the SUV is described as a white man, possibly in his 40s, with dirty blonde hair and a beard, said the sheriff's office. The passenger is described as a white woman, possibly in her 40s, with brown hair below her shoulders.

Anyone with information is urged to call the sheriff's office at 813-247-8200.