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Driver says he thought he hit deer, not man

He admits he lied to officials about what happened but says he didn't purposely leave the pedestrian to die.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published September 21, 2006

WEEKI WACHEE - Had it not been for a last-minute change of plans, Michael Parker believes he would be a much happier person right now.

He wouldn't be consumed by the distraught feelings and the horror that have clutched him since learning that he accidently killed another human being early Sunday morning.

If Parker could turn back time, things would be different, he says. He would have taken his usual route home to Spring Hill from his bartending job at R Beach on Shoal Line Boulevard, rather than taking a longer detour to grab a late-night snack at Dunkin' Donuts. Or, at the very least, he wouldn't have taken his eyes off the road for the split second he was rounding the darkened curve near Cortez Boulevard and Cyclops Drive, where 45-year-old Bruce Pikey was walking at 2:45 a.m.

When fate intervened Sunday morning, so began a tragedy that Parker says will probably haunt him forever.

After reading about the accident in the newspaper, Parker called the Times because he wanted to tell his side of the story. Though a Florida Highway Patrol report indicated Parker walked away from the scene after the accident, he says he did not purposely leave Pikey for dead on the roadside.

"I would never knowingly leave a person out on a road and just take off," said Parker, 28. "I'm not that coldhearted."

According to Parker, after striking what he thought was a deer, he quickly stopped and turned the car around to shine his headlights along the tall roadside grass to look for the animal. In fact, he spent several minutes searching for any clues as to what had crushed the right front fender of his aunt's 1998 Ford Escort. He saw and heard nothing. When he tried to turn the car around again, it became stuck in a concrete culvert.

Parker admits that what transpired next was a mistake. Instead of summoning the police, he called a friend on his cell phone for help in freeing the stuck car. When the attempt failed, Parker's friend dropped him off near Northcliffe Boulevard and Commercial Way.

From there, Parker called 911 with a made-up story that the car had been stolen.

"I freaked because I knew her insurance didn't cover me driving the car," Parker said. "It was a stupid thing to do, but at the time all I thought was that I had hit a deer and that the insurance might not pay for the damage."

A Hernando County sheriff's deputy picked up Parker. Inside the patrol car, he heard over the radio that his aunt's car had been found near an accident scene. Arriving with the deputy back on Cortez Boulevard, Parker was informed by investigators that a body had been found lying partly in the roadway and that they believed he was involved. Authorities then read Parker his rights.

"I was in complete shock," Parker said.

After agreeing to a field sobriety blood test, Parker said, he told authorities that the car had not been stolen, and he was allowed to leave.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Parker had not been charged in the incident. Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins would not speculate as to what charges, if any, Parker could face, and said that the case was still under investigation.

"It's an active accident as far as we're concerned," Coggins said. "An autopsy is being conducted, and the vehicle is still being examined."

It was not known where Pikey, who authorities listed as a resident of Elsberry, Mo., was headed at the time of the crash. Pikey was walking east with his back to traffic when he was struck, the patrol said. Attempts to reach Pikey's relatives Tuesday were unsuccessful.

A check of Parker's Florida driving record showed that he was cited for unlawful speed in Pasco County in 2002. Parker admitted that his driver's license, which expired Aug. 31, is currently under suspension for failure to pay traffic fines.

As for his own culpability in the accident, Parker says he can only hope for a fair outcome.

"I don't know what they'll charge me with once it's all said and done," he said. "All I know is that I'm not the bad guy in all of this. I'm dying on the inside."

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or 352 848-1435.

[Last modified September 20, 2006, 23:08:48]