DAVENPORT, Fla. -- Barry Berland was supposed to be in town helping his wife care for their granddaughter, as her mother recovered from a mastectomy.
- Man hit by vehicle while riding bike
- Driver fled the scene
- Anonymous donor offering reward for information
But things changed early on in the trip when Berland was hit while riding his bicycle in the bike lane on Ernie Caldwell Blvd in Davenport. Polk County deputies said he was hit from behind.
"I’ve got a concussion/laceration to the stop of my head. I have a broken clavicle, a separated shoulder, five broken ribs,” Berland said.
“I have a smile on my face but I feel like hell.”
With his left arm in a sling, and pain in his back, the Vietnam veteran and former Fulton County volunteer deputy is lucky to be alive.
“I just remember vaguely being put into a emergency type helicopter,” Berland said.
He doesn’t remember anything about the vehicle that hit him.
Berland's daughter still can’t believe the driver didn’t stop to help. She was in the bed recovering from her surgery when she found out what happened.
“The thought that someone hit him and left him for dead. I just can’t fathom humans like this,” Marissa Berland Branisavljevic said.
“It’s a hard situation. It is so ridiculous that no one has been punished or caught.”
Branisavljevic said an anonymous donor is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone who provides information to authorities that leads to an arrest.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office wants to hear from anyone who may have information related to the case.
If you have any information, even the slightest detail, or you know someone whose vehicle was damaged on July 13, call the Polk county Sheriff's Office.
You can also leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers.