Palm Harbor Man Arrested In Attack On Bicyclist

CLEARWATER, FL — A 20-year-old Palm Harbor man faces aggravated battery charges following an April 5 attack on a bicyclist.

According to Clearwater Police, Derek Queener, 44, was riding his bicycle home from work that evening in the 1200 block of Jackson Road. As he was heading on his way, a person in the rear passenger seat of a vehicle moving in the opposite direction struck him with an object. The strike caused Queener “extensive facial injuries,” an email from the police department said.

Surveillance video captured from a home in the area showed a silver Jeep Compass with black rims riding on the street at the time of the incident, police said. That Jeep was driven by a 16-year-old girl police were able to track down.

As it turned out, the object used to hit Queener was a golf umbrella, police said. The back-seat passenger was identified as Michael William Nuckolls, the email said.

Nuckolls was brought into custody early Saturday morning on a felony aggravated battery charge. He was being held in lieu of $10,000 bond Saturday afternoon, jail records indicate.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail

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