SUNRISE, Fla. – A South Florida man with a history of driving violations was arrested two days after police say he fatally struck a bicyclist with his car and then fled the scene.
The crash occurred shortly before 6:30 a.m. Friday in the 3400 block of Nob Hill Road.
Devin Doers, 44, was arrested Sunday on charges of tampering with physical evidence, failing to remain at the scene of a crash resulting in death, leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage, reckless driving, careless driving and failing to yield.
Doers made his first court appearance Monday, where it was revealed that he’s had numerous driving violations, including five DUI convictions since 1998. His bond was set at $145,000, and if he posts it, he is not allowed to drive and must submit to random drug testing.
According to Sunrise police, Doers’ gray Chevrolet Equinox and a bicyclist were heading north on Nob Hill Road when the cyclist was struck by the small SUV.
The bicyclist was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where he died.
The victim has been identified by his grandson as Jurgen Baum. He was in his 70s and immigrated to the United States from Germany when he was in his 20s. His grandson told Local 10 News that Baum loved sports, was an avid cyclist and rode his bike to work as a school crossing guard in Sunrise.
“He was a wonderful man,” Baum’s lone grandson Jarrett Koral said. “He cared a great deal for his family. He cared a great deal for his community. And he was brilliant.”
Koral said Baum was heading to work at Franklin Academy on his bike like usual and was only half a mile away when the crash happened.
“He was wearing a reflective vest at the time, he had proper lights on his bicycle,” Koral said.
A witness told police that she was pulling out of her neighborhood when she saw two vehicles that appeared to be speeding in the 45 mph zone.
She said prior to them passing her, she heard a loud noise and then saw the bicyclist and debris flying in the air.
The witness told police that the vehicle that struck the victim, which she described as a gray smaller four-door SUV, fled the scene as she called 911.
According to the arrest report, police linked Doers to the hit-and-run because parts of his vehicle had fallen off during the impact of the crash, including a piece of a bumper bracket that had serial numbers on it.
Police said a man who saw the damaged vehicle and saw a report about the hit-and-run on the news provided them the address to where he saw the vehicle, which they soon learned was registered to Doers.
According to the arrest report, Doers became emotional during his interview with detectives and said he was unsure what he had hit at first and when he arrived home, he realized that due to the severe damage to his vehicle he “must have hit a person” and “should have gone back.”
When asked why he didn’t, he said he was scared, the arrest report stated.
Police said Doers expressed remorse for his actions and said that he wished he had done things differently and could apologize to the victim’s family.
Doers had five DUI convictions, including two in 2019 alone, records show. He was convicted of speeding four times in 2000, cited for careless driving in 2002, got another citation for careless driving involving a crash in 2008 and two speeding citations in 2010 and 2011.
“It’s ridiculous to the extent where someone can say they didn’t know, they didn’t know the situation,” Koral said of the driver leaving the scene that took his grandfather’s life. “If you are running, you are hiding from something.”