A 38-year-old motorcyclist was killed early Thursday on southbound Interstate 275 in downtown Tampa.
- Fatal motorcycle crash early Thursday on I-275 in Tampa
- Joel Matthew Shubert killed in crash at mile marker 44
- Shubert thrown from bike, hit by sheriff deputy's cruiser
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Joel Matthew Shubert was headed southbound when he lost control of his motorcycle, hit a barrier wall and was thrown from the bike into the opposite lanes of traffic. He was then run over accidentally by a sheriff deputy's cruiser.
Shubert died at the scene.
People who knew Shubert told us there were two things he couldn't get enough of: motorcycles and his family.
"His obsession with the motorcycle," said Jason Oaks, Shubert's manager at Cody's Roadhouse. "It was funny I let him off early one night. And I thought he had already left and I walk outside and I’m like 'what is he doing?'"
"And he literally was out detailing his bike. He was the only allowed to park out back because he had the bike and I’m like 'go home, man.' He’s like, 'No I’m not going home til it’s pretty.'"
Oaks said he couldn't believe the news when he and his staff found out about the crash Wednesday night.
"It’s still a lot of long faces today," said Oaks. "I’m sure in the next couple of days when it settles in and you’re going in the remembering phase opposed to the mourning stage, I’m sure I’ll get more of that. But right now it’s very somber."
Shubert's girlfriend, Kristeen Marie, was too shaken to talk to us about the accident. She did, however, share these pictures of Shubert and the loves of his life: his four children.
It's that love, his friends told us, that defined the kind of man he was.
Ph: Kristeen Marie