BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — A Tesla Cybertruck plowed into a bicyclist in Boca Raton and drove away, according to police.
The Boca Raton Police Department said its investigators arrested a Miami man accused of striking a woman riding her bicycle in a marked crosswalk and leaving the scene without stopping to help
According to the probable cause affidavit, Raul Quintana Menduet, 58, was taken into custody Tuesday morning in connection with the crash, which happened April 4 along Northeast Spanish River Boulevard. Police said the victim was crossing northbound on her bicycle when she was hit by a dark-colored Tesla Cybertruck traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes.
Witnesses told officers the driver continued north into a nearby shopping plaza without stopping to render aid. One witness was able to obtain the vehicle’s license plate number, which investigators used to identify Quintana Menduet as the suspect, police said.
According to the probable cause affidavit, investigators later contacted Quintana Menduet by phone, and he agreed to meet with officers to discuss the incident. During that conversation, police said he admitted he knew he had struck the bicyclist but continued driving after seeing her stand up and believing she was not seriously injured.
Officers later met with Quintana Menduet at Sand Pine Park, where he allegedly acknowledged driving on the wrong side of the roadway. He told police the vehicle was in “autopilot” mode at the time of the crash, according to the report. Investigators said he also showed officers a photograph from the Cybertruck’s onboard camera system that appeared to show the vehicle traveling in the incorrect lanes.
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The victim suffered minor injuries to her right knee and complained of pain in her left shoulder, but declined medical treatment at the scene, police said.
Quintana Menduet, who is listed as unemployed and a Miami resident, was arrested by Boca Raton police and booked into jail shortly after 11 a.m. He is charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving injury, a felony under Florida law, according to the affidavit.
A Miami man was arrested after police say he struck a bicyclist with a Tesla Cybertruck in a Boca Raton crosswalk and drove away without stopping to help. (Getty Images, PBC Jail)
Court records show he is expected to make an initial court appearance at a later date. As in all criminal cases, the charge is an accusation, and Quintana Menduet is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.