News Update for 4/26/23

A bicyclist was injured in a hit & run accident west of Sebring yesterday. Apparently, the motorist did not stop. A van, driven by a 30-year-old Sebring man, reportedly clipped the bike from behind on Heron Street. The impact tossed the 16-year-old cyclist off the bike.
He was taken to the hospital in critical condition. According to witnesses, Florida Higway Patrol troopers later stopped a van on nearby Thunderbird Road. Troopers say the driver of the van was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident. He was taken to the Highlands County jail.

One person was killed and another seriously injured yesterday in a three-vehicle tangle in Hardee County. Florida Highway Patrol reports indicate a semi tractor-trailer rig was eastbound on State Road 62 near North County Road 663. The big rig went left of center and slammed into a sport utility vehicle.
The driver of the SUV, a 31-year-old Bowling Green man, was killed. The semi then ran into the parking lot of the Country Food & Beverage Store and hit a parked car.
The trucker reporedly was seriously injured. That accident remains under investigation.

Polk County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating the death of a jail inmate, who expired at AdventHealth Sebring. According to reports, 43-year-old Doreeto Martinez Castro was being held on counts of DUI-Manslaughter at the medical unit of the Polk County jail, in connection with an April 22nd fatal traffic crash.
Deputies say Martinez-Castro became unresponsive, and was taken to AdventHealth Sebring where he died. A subsequent examination found he’d expired from accident-related internal injuries.
Martinez-Castro was in the country illegally, and had been twice deported in the past.

A Polk County couple knows what it takes to have a long and happy marriage. Vic and Marge Gerard celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary yesterday in Haines City. He’s 101, and she’s 98. They have six kids, 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Vic says the secret is being lucky, being honest and taking care of each other.