FLORIDA-Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood was injured after he was struck by a car in a hit-and-run while riding his bicycle Thursday afternoon in Port Orange, the sheriff’s office said.
It happened around 4:30 p.m. at Town West Boulevard and Daylily Street, the agency said on Twitter.
“He is being transported with minor injuries but he’s in good spirits,” the tweet said.
In a video posted to his Twitter account Thursday, Chitwood said officials are working to identify the driver.
He said was heading on a 20-mile ride outside his neighborhood after work when a car hit the back of his bike “hard.”
“I go flying off the bike, and all I can tell you was it was a burgundy-colored car because the mirror was impaled in my back,” Chitwood said.
A waste collection truck was behind the car and captured the accident on video. The truck’s driver told Chitwood it seemed as if the driver slowed down and intentionally hit him, Chitwood said.
Another video showed a nurse cleaning injuries on Chitwood’s back. He appears to have a large abrasion on his right side and a cut on his lower back.
“They’re taking great care of me here in Port Orange; police, fire, everybody’s been fantastic,” he said. “... This could have been a hell of a lot worse, and hopefully we’ll catch who the son of a [expletive] is here in the very near future.”
Chitwood, 57, was elected sheriff in 2016. Prior to that he was the Daytona Beach police chief from 2006 to 2016. He also spent 17 years with the Philadelphia Police Department.
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