A Toronto cyclist has died after he was struck by a convertible in a Yorkville hit-and-run Monday night.
The ordeal began just before 10 p.m. when the cyclist and driver got into an argument heading west on Bloor Street at Bay Street, police say. As the cars approached Avenue Road, there was a collision, Toronto police Traffic Services Sergeant Tim Burrows said.
"That altercation continued down Bloor Street from Bay towards Avenue Road. It escalated the entire time until a collision occurred," the officer said.
Witnesses said the cyclist grabbed on to the side of the convertible before falling off. A witness said he struck a mailbox, while Sgt. Burrows said the cyclist hit a tree and a fire hydrant.
"The guy hanging on to the car hit the mailbox, hit the road, and the… car ran over him with the back tires. The guy bounced, and the car sped off and the person that he ran over was there just bleeding," witness Manual Machado told CTV.
The cyclist was taken to hospital without vital signs and later declared dead.
Witnesses told a local television station that the victim was bleeding from his ears, mouth and neck.
The luxury car fled the scene, police say, but a man was arrested later nearby at the Hyatt hotel.
Sgt. Burrows said he's facing a charge of failing to remain at the scene of a collision, and is under investigation about the circumstances of the crash.
It's the second serious hit-and-run collision in Ontario to leave cyclists critically hurt in hospital this summer.
On July 19th, a van hit five experienced cyclists in the Ottawa area, leaving two people critically hurt. A man later turned himself in to police.