Authorities claim a woman hit a Volusia County sheriff with her car because she was shopping on Amazon while driving, the New York Post reported Friday.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood’s leg was broken in the Thursday hit-and-run incident near Port Orange, Florida, according to the New York Post. Police arrested the suspected driver, 20-year-old Paige Bergman, Friday morning.
Bergman was allegedly shopping on Amazon when she drove her maroon Hyundai Sonata into 57-year-old Chitwood, who was riding a bike at the time, according to the outlet. In a Facebook post, Chitwood said “She [Bergman] says she was shopping on Amazon on her phone when she hit me.”
Chitwood claimed he did not believe Bergman intentionally ran him down but wrote in his post, “Please let this be a warning to put your phones down while you’re driving before you kill someone,” the New York Post reported. “Just imagine if that had been a child or an elderly person on that bike, or if the car drifted a couple more inches to the right,” Chitwood added.
Video footage shows the aftermath of the Thursday hit-and-run, as a trash truck driver comes to Chitwood’s aid. Later in the video, it cuts to police taking Bergman into custody.
Bergman has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury, the New York Post reported.
Chitwood later tweeted a video of him getting treated at the hospital, saying “And the next thing I know, boy, I got hit and got hit hard from the rear.” (RELATED: Driver Kills Three After Plowing Into People On Sidewalk)
True professionals taking great care of an unruly patient pic.twitter.com/wTwDKMtKuH
— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) March 18, 2021
“I go flying off the bike and all I can tell you was it was burgundy-colored car because the mirror was impaled in my back,” Chitwood added.
Another video shows a gash on Chitwood’s back. Chitwood required a few stitches while his fractured fibula is expected to heal without surgery, the New York Post reported.