Deadly weekend on Jacksonville roads

Series of crashes claim lives of 5 men

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A series of crashes claimed the lives of five men on Jacksonville roads in 48 hours. The latest happened Sunday morning.

Police said Ricky Donald Dailey, 29, was walking on the Mathews Bridge around 8:45 a.m. when he was hit by a car and thrown over the railing.

Police said a driver found Dailey’s body on a grassy embankment near the bridge. Investigators believe he was walking on the bridge Sunday morning when a driver hit him and he fell about 20 feet to his death.

Dailey was just one of five people killed walking and driving on the roads over the weekend.

Two men died about 2 a.m. Saturday in a wrong-way crash in San Marco. The crash shut down traffic on Interstate 95 for more than four hours.

Later Saturday morning, Francisco Antunez, 59, died after he was hit while crossing Atlantic Boulevard near Acme Street. The driver didn't stop to help.

Then, on Saturday night, Jose Irizarry, 59, was struck by a vehicle on Beach Boulevard. That driver stopped to help and is cooperating with the investigation, police said.

But the Sheriff’s Office is still trying to track down the driver of the first fatal hit-and-run of the weekend.

A witness told News4Jax that driver took off from the scene. The witness chased after him while calling police, but lost sight of the white sedan when the fleeing driver began running red lights.

"The witness in this case did everything right," News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said. "He saw the accident and saw the person was leaving the scene and went to try to get a better description, color, make model of the car and hopefully a tag number."

Smith said police will try to take any evidence from the scene, like pieces of headlights or the car, to determine what type of car it was to give people a better idea of what to be looking for. They will also check surveillance video if there is any in the area.

"If they can get part of the paint to give them a better description of the color of the car, that would be useful," Smith said.

Police are also looking for the driver who left the scene of the crash on the Mathews Bridge. Investigators said a possible driver and car have been identified, but they are searching for more information into what happened.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.