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Driver Arrested for Fatal Hit and Run That Killed USF Researcher

October 22, 2010 - Tampa, FL - Tampa police have named a suspect in the Sept. 25 hit and run bike accident that left a USF researcher dead.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has completed the investigation with enough evidence to arrest Shawn Lee Burton, 29, in the death of Kayoko Ishizuka, 30.

Burton was believed to be the driver of a borrowed 1998 red Ford Explorer that struck Ishizuka as she rode home on her bicycle in the early morning hours from work.

The owner of the SUV, Henry Augustine, called police the day after the hit and run bike accident explaining that he had lent the vehicle to his sister's boyfriend and it was returned with unexplained damage.

In his statement to police, Augustine claimed Burton called him in the early hours of the morning, crying and saying he struck something but didn't know what. He later claimed he hit a pair of deer on Van Dyke Road.

The hit and run bike accident took place at the intersection of University Square Drive and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard around 1:40 a.m. Ishizuka was struck with the right front side of the SUV and killed. The victim was wearing a helmet, had the proper safety lights on her bike, and was traveling in the bike lane at the time of the accident.

Police began investigating the incident further, but had no eyewitnesses to interview, and had to rely on interviews of other related persons. Finally, Burton was arrested on Oct. 19 with charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death.

Traffic Injuries and Fatalities in Florida

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' 2009 Traffic Crash Statistics Report, there were 197,214 traffic crashes resulting in injury and 2,563 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Florida.

As a service to the residents of St. Petersburg, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in Florida that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to: 

• single-car accidents;
• hit-and-run accidents;
• accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
• accidents caused by aggressive driving or distracted drivers. 

If you have been named in this blog or you are the victim's family member or friend and would like the blog posting removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.

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