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Authorities search for driver in Alachua County hit and run
Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol are searching for a driver who struck two girls who were walking along a quiet rural road in Alachua County. One of the girls was killed and the other remains hospitalized. The driver is described as a white man in his 30s, with dirty blonde hair.
MICANOPY, Fla. - The Florida Highway Patrol wants people to be on the lookout for a driver who hit and killed a 14-year-old girl and her friend on Wednesday night.
Troopers say the two teen girls and a 13-year-old boy were walking along County Road 346 near Micanopy in rural Alachua County at about 9 p.m. Lt. Patrick Riordan said the trio was walking east-bound on the correct side of the highway, against traffic, when a vehicle traveling in the same direction crossed into the westbound lane and struck the two girls.
Troopers said Hannah Brown of Micanopy was pronounced dead at the scene and the other girl was transported to a Gainesville hospital. The boy was not injured in the incident.
"We don't know the exact causation of why the vehicle traveled from one lane to the other, but we do know the driver was aware he struck somebody,” said Riordan.
Witnesses told FHP that the driver of the vehicle actual did a U-turn following the incident, pulled past the scene, parked and got out of their car briefly; getting back in and fleeing when people tried to approach to check on them.
The driver was described as a white male wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and had dirty blonde hair. Lt. Riordan said the vehicle he was driving was either a Ford pickup truck or Bronco, evidence at the scene placing it as a model year between 1992 and 1996. Riordan said the vehicle will also have massive damage to the front driver’s side.
FHP is asking anyone with information on the case to report it to law enforcement immediately.