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Doorbell camera records hit-and-run
Jordan Bowen reports
TAMPA, Fla. - A suspected hit-and-run driver who killed a bicyclist has been arrested, according to Tampa police.
Investigators say he took off after crashing into a man on a bike on Gray Street near Gomez Street in Tampa just before 7 o'clock Wednesday night. The alleged driver came back to the scene an hour later and confessed, according to police.
Dennis Ragano and his fiance live nearby and said they rushed outside after hearing the crash. The whole thing was recorded by Ragano's doorbell camera.
"You could just hear a loud crash. You could tell someone had hit something," Ragano said. "You could see the car. He was heading off into the distance. He wasn't stopping. He just kept going."
The video shows the bicyclist heading toward the intersection and then being struck by the car. Ragano runs over to the man's side seconds later.
Police say the driver, 22-year-old Seth Lapensohn, was behind the wheel. He showed back up at the scene an hour later with visible damage on his Jeep and apparently under the influence, police said.
Seth Lapensohn
"It was horrible. I felt terrible for the man," said neighbor Marlene Dobrowoski.
She believes the crash could have been prevented if the intersection was a 4-way stop instead of the current 2-way stop.
"Four-way stop signs. Really. How much does that cost to save a life?" Dobrowoski asked.
She said she has petitioned for the change a few times in the last 10 years, but additional stop signs have never been added. It's part of the reason she added her own signs, reminding drivers to slow down.
"I've seen speeders. They don't stop. They speed," Dobrowoski said.
Other neighbors said they feel the same and hope what happened leads to changes.
"We need to have stop signs on all four sides of the street. They have it down the street. We just don't have it here for some reason," Ragano said.
The city of Tampa did not return FOX 13's request for comment.
Lapensohn is being charged with DUI and leaving the scene of a crash involving a death. As of Thursday night, he remains in the Hillsborough County Jail.