SARASOTA, Fla. — A man who fled after causing a 2021 fatal crash in Sarasota was found guilty Friday on all charges including vehicular homicide.
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), with the assistance of the U.S. Marshalls Office, captured Robert Knowlton at a Charlotte County motel after he fled when he was released on bond.
After a four-day trial, a jury found Knowlton guilty on a rash of charges including vehicular homicide; leaving the scene with death; and driving while license suspended causing death.
The case stems back to Nov. 11, 2021, when FHP responded to a fatal hit-and-run traffic crash at the interchange of Laurel Road and Interstate 75 in Sarasota County.
Knowlton, of Nokomis, was driving a pickup truck eastbound on Laural Road, approaching the I-75 exit ramp, when he failed to stop at a red light. He slammed into the left side of a second pickup truck that was northbound on the exit ramp, approaching Laural Road, according to an FHP report.
Knowlton then fled the scene on foot.
The driver of the other pickup truck, a 52-year-old Nokomis man, was pronounced dead at the scene. Behind him was a 64-year-old Miami man driving a sedan. He hit Knowlton’s truck and suffered serious injuries.
Knowlton also was found guilty of reckless driving with serious bodily injuries; driving while license suspended with serious bodily injuries; leaving the scene with serious bodily injuries; and three counts of leaving the scene with property damage.
