FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A woman who was riding her bike Thursday morning on a Fort Lauderdale bridge has died after being stuck by a vehicle, authorities said.
According to Fort Lauderdale police, the hit-and-run crash was reported at about 6:40 a.m. in the 2000 block of Southeast 17th Street.
Police said the bicyclist, who was identified 68-year-old Shelley Lewis, was struck by a dark-colored vehicle in the eastbound lanes before the driver fled the scene.
She was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where she died, authorities confirmed.
Police identified the driver as 22-year-old Don Janea Smith and she was arrested Thursday afternoon.
Smith was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of accident involving death and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
She was booked into the Broward County Main Jail.
According to Lewis’ niece, Veronica Haines, Lewis was an avid bicyclist who stayed active and regularly enjoyed bicycling, tennis, golf, pickleball and ping pong.
She said her aunt spent her professional life in education, serving as head of special education at Mirror Lake Elementary School in Plantation after previously working at Sawgrass Elementary School in Sunrise.
After retiring, she often pet-sat for family and friends, Haines said.
According to Haines, Lewis lived near the Southeast 17th Street Causeway and frequently rode over the bridge to the beach, always wearing a helmet
She said family was everything to her beloved aunt.
Local 10 Assignment Desk editor Wilson Louis contributed to this report.
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