Authorities say a hit-and-run crash in Indian River County on Tuesday night killed a woman from Delaware.
The Florida Highway Patrol says that a woman from Wilmington, Delaware, who was 47 years old, and a guy from Vero Beach, who was 52 years old, were walking north across State Road 656 (17th Street) just east of Vero Beach at about 9 p.m.
Then a black Ford Edge SUV going east hit them head-on.
The driver got out of his car and walked up to the people who were hurt. He then got back in his SUV and drove away.
“Oh my gosh,” said Cindy Sawyer, who lives across the street. “We did see planes last night. And for the driver to be in this area, I think he or she lives nearby.”
A person who lived across the street from the accident said, “I mean, they had to know it was bad.” “Why didn’t they stop and do something or help in any way?
Very cruel.”
The woman’s injuries were so bad that she died at HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital. Lt. Indiana Miranda of the FHP said that the Vero Beach man’s injuries did not keep him from working.
The driver of the Ford Edge was a white guy between 50 and 60 years old, bald, and wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants, according to dash cam footage from a witness.
Miranda said Wednesday afternoon that the car that was in the accident was later found at a house in Vero Beach.
Sgt. Kevin Jawarski of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said that just after 11 a.m. on Wednesday, a local person saw a car that looked exactly like the one that is thought to have caused the hit-and-run.
Jawarski said that cops looked up the tag and then went to the house, where they found the car, locked it up, and kept looking into what happened.
People in the area said they heard a lot of sounds and saw a lot of police cars on Tuesday night.
“There were a lot of sirens last night, and I heard on the news this morning that there was a hit-and-run,” said Robert Tarrant, who rides his bike down that street.
“When I got home around 10:35, the road was blocked off, and I could see four or five police cars all around,” said a neighbor who lives across the street from the accident.
The FHP said that they are working with the State Attorney’s Office to bring a case to court.
