A front end loader remains at the scene where a forensic science investigator with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office investigates the scene on the westbound lanes of I-275 near Gandy Boulevard on Friday, Sep 23, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Michael Hartwick, a Florida sheriff's deputy working an overnight shift to provide safety at a construction zone was struck and killed by a worker operating a front end loader, officials said.

A Florida sheriff’s deputy working an overnight shift to provide safety at a construction zone was accidentally struck and killed by a worker operating a front end loader who officials say is in the U.S. illegally. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says Deputy Michael Hartwick had started his shift shortly before the incident happened late Thursday on Interstate 275. He had blocked two lanes when a front end loader driven by the worker hit him. The sheriff says the worker drove for about a mile before stopping in a parking lot and told another worker that he had killed a deputy. He is being charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving a death after initially giving a false name.

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