JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Community members are speaking out about pedestrian safety after three fatal pedestrian crashes -- two of which were hit-and-runs -- this week in Jacksonville.
The first crash happened Wednesday night along Avenue B near the intersection of West 45th Street when a vehicle hit two men and killed one of them after the impact caused him to get hit by a second car, police said. The victim, Mike Curry, was also involved in another hit-and-run crash just 18 months ago.
Another crash involved a man being hit by an SUV Thursday on Philips Highway, according to police. The woman who said she did not see the man before he was hit remained on the scene and was cooperating with authorities.
On Friday, homicide investigators were working to track down a gold Cadillac that was spotted leaving the scene of a deadly hit-and-run crash on Philips Highway at University Boulevard.
Mrs. Jackson and her husband Anthony frequently walk to get to most places, and the couple said the recent traffic fatalities are sad, especially since in some of the incidents, the drivers didn’t stop to check to see if the person they hit was okay.
“It makes me feel real bad for Jacksonville itself as a community,” Mrs. Johnson said.
She expressed that the families of the victims in the hit-and-run crashes deserve answers.
“We should get answers for the people that need answers,” Johnson said.
For Johnson, this topic also hits home because her husband was involved in a hit-and-run in 2016 while riding his bike. He spent months in the hospital, and seven years later, they still don’t know who hit him.
“We need more safety for the state of Florida generally. We need more lights on dark streets. There’s a lot of dark streets in Jacksonville,” Johnson said.
Attorney Randy Reep told News4JAX it’s difficult to prove who’s involved in a hit-and-run case if there are no witnesses.
“Just because a vehicle was involved in an accident doesn’t mean the owner of the vehicle was the one who committed the leaving the scene,” Reep said.
According to News4JAX records, over the last five years, there’s only been about a 10% arrest rate with fatal hit-and-runs.
Lauren Prater, auto accident and criminal defense attorney, said although the success rate is love with these cases, the penalties can be severe.
“We’re dealing with anything from a small misdemeanor, which may just have a fine or spending the rest of their life in prison,” Prater said.