Sanford city vehicle linked to fatal hit-and-run of bicyclist

A City of Sanford dump truck was tied to a fatal hit-and-run that killed bicyclist Manuel Martinez at West Airport Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, putting Sanford’s bike safety and city fleet oversight under a bright spotlight. The crash unfolded on a corridor where commuter traffic, turning vehicles and cyclists share the road, and police treated it as a traffic homicide investigation.

Sanford police received a 911 call at about 8 a.m. Aug. 4 reporting a vehicle crash involving a bicyclist. Officers responded to the area of West Airport Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and began piecing together what happened after Martinez was struck. Later information showed the dump truck was traveling in the area before the collision and that Martinez was hit as the truck turned right at the intersection.

By the end of the day, authorities had identified the driver as Shawannia Smith, 46, a city employee. She was charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death and cited for violating a cyclist’s right-of-way. Those charges point to the most serious allegation in the case: that the driver did not remain at the scene after the fatal collision and did not yield to the bicyclist.

A separate account from the city said Smith was suspended without pay during the investigation. Sanford police posted a media release the same day, underscoring how quickly the case moved from a routine crash call to a homicide-level traffic investigation. For residents who bike or drive through downtown Sanford, the intersection now stands as a test of whether municipal drivers are being trained and supervised closely enough when they operate large city vehicles on busy streets.

The crash also raises practical questions for the city beyond this one case. If a city-owned dump truck can be involved in a fatal collision at a major Sanford intersection, the public will want to know how fleet use is monitored, how drivers are instructed to respond after a crash, and how quickly the city informs residents when one of its own vehicles is involved in a death on the road.