Police: Man hit in face by tire in Melbourne

Police are searching for the driver that struck a tire in a roadway, sending it flying into the face of a landscaper on a darkened residential street in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The landscaper – who suffered a fractured skull and smashed nose from the airborne tire – had apparently used the tire in place of a traditional, orange traffic cone, police said.

The accident happened at about 9:28 p.m. as the landscaper stood in the roadway at Stewart Road and Dandelion Drive, stacking wood and branches into his work trailer.

"It is unusual. He was doing landscaping late at night and had put a tire in the roadway as a traffic control device. We believe a car hit the tire, causing it to hit him in the face," said Lt. Cheryl Trainer of the Melbourne Police Department.

Police said the unidentified vehicle was headed northbound on Stewart Road when it struck the tire. The force of the flying tire was so strong that it fractured the man's skull, officials report. A woman who was with the man at the time of the accident was not hurt.

Police are asking for witnesses or anyone who was in the area last night to come forward.

"The driver of the vehicle may not have known that they hit him. Right now it is hard to say exactly what happened but he placed the object in the road," Trainer said.

The victim was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne for further treatment. As of late Wednesday, police report that he was in stable condition.

Trainer said the incident is still under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Melbourne Police Department at 321-608-6422.

This story is developing. More updates as we get them.

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, JDGallop@FloridaToday.com or on Twitter @JDGallop