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GIBSONTON (FOX 13) - The man accused of hitting a bicyclist and fleeing the scene in Gibsonton Wednesday night was already awaiting trial on an unrelated vehicular homicide charge.
Hillsborough County deputies said Jaime Castellano, 27, slammed into a young man riding a bike across Symmes Road but didn't stop. According to investigators, Castellano was still dragging the bike under his Mustang when he turned into a mobile home park on Cujoe Lane.
The bicyclist was critically injured.
"He comes flying through here. He almost hit a few more people," said Shae Parslow. "The guy came in here with no regards to anybody else's life, only his own life and getting away."
Parslow said her neighbors weren't going to let Castellano get any further. At least one of them got physical with the driver to keep in from leaving the community.
Minutes later, deputies arrived and arrested Castellano.
"If you're in here doing something that you're not supposed to do that's just morally wrong, you will see everybody come out and they do stick together and try to stop what's wrong," Parslow said.
"It's certainly not something that I recommend that you chase after someone, but in this case, the witnesses definitely helped out our deputies," added Cristal Nunez, a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Nunez said when detectives learned Castellano was behind the wheel, they figured out why he didn't want to get caught: He's facing a vehicular homicide charge from 2016.
"He's still waiting to go on trial for that, which is why [Wednesday] night, he fled," Nunez told FOX 13. "He realizes he should have never been driving. His license had been revoked and he should not have been out on the streets."
Deputies had not yet released the bicyclist's name by late Thursday but told FOX 13 he was in critical condition.