A 45-year-old Riverview man is facing multiple felony charges after Florida Highway Patrol troopers say he fled the scene of a crash that left a motorcyclist with serious injuries, then tried to hide his vehicle's license plate inside a backpack. The crash happened around 10:30 a.m. Thursday on State Road 574, also known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, in Hillsborough County.
According to WFLA, troopers say Bobby Mwaten was driving a Ford Fusion westbound when he entered the north shoulder to make an improper U-turn and did not see a 25-year-old Valrico woman's Suzuki motorcycle, which was traveling westbound in the eastbound lane to legally pass slower traffic. Mwaten's Ford collided with the motorcycle, and the rider was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Per IONTB, the collision occurred just east of Chastain Road, in a designated passing zone on the two-lane arterial.
Rather than stay at the scene, Mwaten fled in the Ford Fusion to 1368 East Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies detained him, the station's report notes. Deputies then discovered that Mwaten had removed his vehicle's license plate and hidden it inside a backpack, according to Florida Highway Patrol. Investigators also determined the Ford Fusion was unregistered. Deputies subsequently turned Mwaten over to Florida Highway Patrol troopers, who took him into custody, as detailed by the Tampa Free Press.
Felony Charges Stack Up Over a Hidden License Plate
Mwaten was arrested on charges including leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, tampering with evidence, driving an unregistered vehicle, and making an improper U-turn, per the same account. Under Florida Statute § 316.027, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines, along with mandatory license revocation, according to Farber Law.
The decision to conceal the plate added a separate felony count. Florida Statute § 918.13 makes concealing or altering physical evidence during an active investigation a third-degree felony, carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, per Hussein & Webber, PL. Prosecutors must show Mwaten knew a law enforcement investigation was pending or imminent when he removed the plate. Separately, operating an unregistered vehicle on Florida roadways is a second-degree misdemeanor under Florida Statute § 320.02, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to The Rivas Law Firm, P.A.
A Familiar Danger on Hillsborough's Two-Lane Roads
State Road 574 functions as a primary east-west corridor linking East Tampa, Mango, and Seffner, with stretches of two-lane roadway that include marked passing zones and unpaved shoulders, according to IONTB. Shoulder turns and passing maneuvers on roads like this create heightened risk of visual obstruction, a factor that appears to have played a role in Thursday's collision.
The case adds to a troubling statewide pattern. Florida recorded 92,381 hit-and-run crashes in 2025, resulting in 180 deaths, according to Swope, Rodante P.A., even though that figure represented a 5.7% drop from 2024. Motorcyclists bear a disproportionate share of the danger: the same data shows 8,910 motorcycle collisions statewide in 2025, causing 575 rider deaths and more than 2,000 incapacitating injuries. In Hillsborough County alone, a recent reporting year logged 640 fatal or injury-involved motorcycle crashes, resulting in 51 deaths and 548 injuries, per Brooks Law Group.
State Pushes Drivers to Stay at the Scene
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles runs an ongoing annual “Stay at the Scene” awareness campaign warning drivers that fleeing an injury crash turns a civil traffic infraction into a major felony conviction. State officials note that more than 70% of fatal hit-and-run victims in Florida are vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
Thursday's arrest follows a string of similar cases across the Tampa Bay area. Hoodline previously reported on a deadly turning-vehicle crash in Riverview involving a motorcyclist, as well as separate hit-and-run cases in the same area over the past year. It remains unclear whether Mwaten has entered a plea or retained an attorney, and the motorcyclist's current condition has not been publicly updated beyond the initial report of serious injuries.
