BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Brevard County man has been arrested months after fatally striking a cyclist then fleeing the scene of the crash, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers said the crash happened May 27 at 11:55 p.m. on Palm Bay Road and Hollywood Boulevard in Brevard County.
Ricky Gregory, 37, of Palm Bay, was traveling west on Palm Bay Road in his 2016 four-door Infiniti when for an unknown reason he crossed into the bike lane and struck 51-year-old Jason Esposito of Hallandale Beach, the report said.
Esposito was thrown from his bicycle and later died at Holmes Regional Medical Center.
Troopers said Gregory fled the scene of the crash and abandoned his vehicle a short time later.
Gregory was arrested Wednesday on charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and failure to maintain a single lane.
At Gregory's first appearance Thursday at the Brevard County Jail complex, an assistant state attorney asked a judge to not allow Gregory to drink or possess alcohol. Gregory has a 2005 DUI conviction.
"It appears alcohol may very well have been involved in this incident, also," the prosecutor said.
Troopers said two witnesses reported they were leaving a sports bar and following Gregory to another bar when the collision happened.
Another witness on the road that night got Gregory's license plate, according to the crash report.
Troopers said Gregory abandoned his car, and when later questioned by authorities, Gregory told them he took an Uber.
A judge Thursday assigned Gregory a $20,000 bond.
Gregory's defense attorney said his client maintains his innocence and anticipates he will post his bond.
"He has significant ties to the community. He's employed. He's college educated," attorney Alton Edmond said of Gregory.
Edmond said Gregory works as an engineer and has no felony criminal history.