A 37-year-old Orlando dentist, Charles Cuprill, was thrown from his bicycle and injured at an Orlando intersection Monday morning, by what many believe to have been an Orlando Police patrol car that failed to stop.
Cuprill fractured and dislocated his shoulder in the crash.
According to police reports, witnesses described the vehicle to be an OPD Ford Crown Victoria.
The car was turning right from Narcoossee Road onto Dowden Road when it struck Cuprill, who was in the bicycle lane and on his way to his Narcoossee Road dental office, according to his attorney, Luis Gracia, partner at Rue, Ziffra and Caldwell.
"The car just continued on after striking Mr. Cuprill," Gracia said. "The accident is under investigation by Orlando Police who are trying to find any video of the incident. It isn’t known yet whether the driver was even aware that my client had been hit."
This crash is the second time in less than 60 days that a local law enforcement officer has been accused of leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. On March 7, Orange County Deputy Sheriff Carmelo Ortiz, 50, was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident with injuries on Red Bug Lake Road near State Road 426 in Seminole County. He has since been relieved of his duties, according to police.
“When it comes to citizens’ safety, no one is above the law, not even those hired to uphold it," said Allen Ziffra, president of Rue, Ziffra and Caldwell.
In Florida, leaving the scene of an accident with injury is a third degree felony that could carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.