Scooter rider dragged and pinned underneath car

A 35-year-old Fort Myers man died Monday morning when the scooter he was operating was struck by a car at a Stock Island intersection, police said.

Richard M. King was riding a 2017 VIP model scooter and headed west on Maloney Avenue, outside the Tom Thumb store, at about 7:13 a.m. behind a mid-size utility truck when it approached Second Street.

A 2002 Honda Accord driven by Ariel Cruz Cordero, 48, of Key West was traveling south on Second Street and stopped at the intersection’s stop sign. After the utility truck turned right onto Second, the scooter continued west and Cordero entered the intersection “directly in front” of the scooter, the FHP said.

Cordero was trying to cross Maloney to proceed straight onto Second.

When the Accord entered his path, King laid the bike down on its left side. His body and the scooter slid beneath the Accord, which dragged the driver beneath the vehicle and stopped on the southeast corner of the intersection with the scooter driver pinned underneath, according to the FHP.

King was pronounced dead on the scene by Monroe County Fire Rescue. He was not wearing a helmet, the FHP said. This is the seventh person killed in a traffic-related crash this year in Monroe County handled by the FHP.

This story was originally published March 13, 2018 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Scooter rider dragged and pinned underneath car."