Man crossing Hillsborough Ave killed by SUV before patrol cars hit him, too

TAMPA — A 27-year-old Orlando man was struck and killed by an SUV early Sunday while crossing an unlighted stretch of West Hillsborough Avenue, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Two Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies responding to the incident in separate vehicles inadvertently hit the body as it lay in the roadway, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Because of the deputies’ involvement, the Highway Patrol took over investigation of the death. The agency did not release the name of the victim because of its interpretation of Marsy’s Law, a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2018 that is meant to protect crime victims but deprives the public of information that had long been made available under Florida’s public records law.

The collision occurred just before 4 a.m. on Hillsborough Avenue just east of George Road.

The victim was walking south across the east-bound lanes of the six-lane roadway when he was hit by an SUV driven by a 41-year-old Summerfield woman, the Highway Patrol said. The victim came to rest in the middle of the road and the SUV stopped on the center median.

The driver called 911. While responding, deputies Jorge Gonzalez Fundora and Raymond Weibley hit the body of the pedestrian, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The eastbound lanes of Hillsborough Avenue were closed for several hours as troopers investigated the scene.