PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A motorcyclist was arrested after hitting a two-year-old child in Port Richey over the weekend.
Buddy Jay Kline, 63, struck the two-year-old child with his Harley Davidson in the 7300 block of Oak Crest Drive in Port Richey Sunday evening, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
FHP says after the child was struck, Kline's passenger got off the motorcycle and started screaming at everyone at the scene, including the two-year-old's parents. She then followed the victim's aunt and uncle into a home, where they took the two-year-old, and continued yelling at them before leaving the house and running back to the motorcycle. Kline and his passenger then left the scene of the crash, according to FHP.
The child was airlifted to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital as a trauma alert.
Pasco County deputies later went to Kline's home, which is located on the same street where he struck the child, to ask him about the crash. Kline told deputies he wasn't involved in any crash that day. Deputies told him that there were witnesses stating he was driving the motorcycle that struck the two-year-old, in which he replied that he had "heard about it." Kline was then arrested for leaving the scene of a crash with injury.
During his arrest, deputies said Kline had bloodshot watery eyes, the odor of alcohol emitting from his breath, was unsteady on his feet, and was slurring his words.
Deputies said after arresting Kline they spoke to his passenger and she told them that she wasn't aware of a crash and that the two were drinking at the VFW in New Port Richey during a chili cookout.
Kline refused to provide a breath sample or take a sobriety test. He is being charged with a felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor DUI.
