Bicyclist has arm amputated after hit-and-run; authorities seek help finding driver

South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL)

A 67-year-old bicyclist who family members say is as fit as a 40-year-old was struck in a hit-and-run accident and left in a Tamarac street for about two hours early last Friday, authorities said.

Winston Copeland, an avid bike rider for the past 40 years and a talented cook, had to have his right arm amputated because of the accident. He laid in the street with compound fractures to his right arm and right leg, as well as spine and lung damage. But it’s not just his physical pain that troubles Copeland’s family.

“The fact that he was left so long before he got emergency services, that is the most heart-breaking part of the whole thing,” said Fulaine Smith, one of Copeland’s three daughters.

“I just keep on putting myself in his place, I’m trying to feel what he felt. It’s not OK. Whoever did this you need to come forward, you need to right this wrong.”

Smith spoke Friday at a news conference hosted by the Broward Sheriff’s Office designed to get the public’s help in finding the hit-and-run driver.

The accident happened about 4:45 a.m. on West Commercial Boulevard between University Drive and Rock Island Road, according to Det. Chandler Greetham of the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

The traffic homicide division was called “because there was a potential the pedestrian could succumb to his injuries,” Greetham said.

The offending vehicle, a silver 2013-19 Nissan Pathfinder SUV, was going east in the 5700 block of West Commercial Boulevard, Greetham said, while Copeland was riding his bike west in the eastbound bicycle lane, meaning Copeland was hit almost head-on.

However, Greetham said, the first 911 call didn’t come until 6:55 a.m., roughly two hours after the accident, and it came from a car that was passed the scene. Greetham said video footage showed several cars drove by the scene just before and just after the accident.

Deputies got the video from a nearby house, but it’s too blurry to make out anything other than a silver vehicle, deputies said.

They also got two parts from the vehicle. One piece is a part of the fog light assembly, and the other is a piece of a bumper. Both pieces are from the front right side.

Smith and her sister, Shannon Copeland, said their dad frequently rides his bike to his job at McDonald’s, where he often works from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. They said it’s usually a 30- to 40-minute ride.

“He was a very good cyclist,” Shannon Copeland said. “He didn’t make any mistakes cycling.”

They said he usually doesn’t like to ride the bus but when he does, he’ll put his bike on the front of the bus and he’ll call as soon as he gets off the bus.

Another troubling aspect of this accident is it’s not the first time Winston Copeland has been the victim of a hit-and-run accident, according to Shannon. She said he was hit by a car in the same area the day before Father’s Day, but his injuries weren’t serious.

This time it’s much different. On top of everything else, Winston is going to need lots of physical therapy, and he doesn’t have health insurance.

Both daughters said their father will likely attempt to ride his bike again, but they said they won’t allow that to happen.

As for what they think their father would say to the hit-and-run driver, they said he wouldn’t be vengeful.

“My dad is a Christian man, he’s a man of God, he’s a strong man, he’s a gentle soul,” Smith said. “Everyone who knows him knows he’s family-oriented, he’s forgiving. He would first tell this person that I forgive you, God forgives you.

“But I also need to tell this person for me, you need to come forward. You need to come forward, you need to right your wrong by coming forward. He’s a human being. He was left on the side of the street and that is not OK.”