A woman who watched her friend get hit by a car Monday night while pushing their car off the road in Lake Wales says the driver who hit him must have been distracted.
David Bryan of Lakeland is in critical condition and on life support.
Investigators say Bryan and his friend, Marley Finley, ran out of gas on State Road 60 and – with the emergency flashers activated –started pushing the car to the nearest driveway.
"I was on the back and I looked back and a car was speeding and I was hoping he would move like every other car did but he kept getting closer and closer," Finley said.
She said she jumped out of the way just in time and screamed for David to do the same but it was too late.
"I [saw] David laying in the road. I dragged him to his side, and I was holding his head and he wasn't breathing, wasn't moving," she said.
The 29-year-old Lakeland man who dreamed of being a UFC fighter was struck by a Honda Civic going 50 miles per hour right at him.
Investigators identified the man behind the wheel as Oliver Simons Jr. of Tampa.
Deputies hauled him off to jail after finding eight bags of marijuana in his car.
Although they found no signs of impairment or texting, Finley is convinced he had to be distracted because he's the only one who didn't see them.
"I know his eyes were not on the road, and if I lose [Bryan] because of him not paying attention, that would be wrong," she said.
Right now the driver only faces drug charges but the case is still under investigation.
