Port Charlotte biker dies in high-speed crash, FHP reports

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- A young motorcycle rider was killed and another man was injured in a high-speed crash Tuesday night, the Florida Highway Patrol reports.

According to the FHP, Nicholas Kole Novak, 19, of Port Charlotte was riding a Suzuki motorcycle at extremely high speed west on El Jobean Road approaching Cornelius Boulevard at about 7 p.m. David Leonard Smith, 79, of Columbia, Tennessee, was driving a Dodge pickup east on El Jobean Road and attempted to turn left onto Cornelius Boulevard.

The motorcycle and pickup collided, FHP reports. The pickup then struck a wooden utility pole.

Novak, who was wearing a helmet, was ejected from the motorcycle and died at the scene, FHP says. Smith, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured. A passenger in the pickup, Robert Kirk, 69, of Venice, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The crash is under investigation.