Runner searching for car that hit him as he crossed the street in Orlando
Runner searching for car that hit him as he crossed the street in Orlando
Daryl Willmore is an avid runner. He’s been jogging a route by Ramsgate Circle and Scenic Point Boulevard every day for about seven years. He wears this bright band, so drivers can see him, and is careful when crossing the road. But even still, he says a driver mowed him down as he ran across the street.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Daryl Willmore is an avid runner. He’s been jogging a route by Ramsgate Circle and Scenic Point Boulevard every day for about seven years.
He wears this bright band, so drivers can see him, and is careful when crossing the road.
"I follow all the rules. I stop at a stop sign. I only cross where I’m supposed to cross," Willmore told FOX 35 News.
But even still, he says a driver mowed him down as he ran across the street.
"He stopped for like ten seconds and I crawled to like right here," Willmore said, scrunching himself down on a curb across the street.
Surveillance video shows that once Willmore was out of the road, the driver just took off. The driver approached so fast, Willmore thinks he must have been trying to get across quickly instead of stopping to wait for the runner.
"I really don’t think it’s okay," said Willmore. "And I felt like no one was helping. There was another vehicle that witnessed it. They turned, they left."
Willmore says he called the police, but they sent him over to the Florida Highway Patrol.
He says the FHP told him they wouldn’t be able to get an officer to the scene for several hours.
The FHP told FOX 35 Willmore did not want a report at first, but later changed his mind. That's different from the story Willmore described.
"We kept calling them," said Willmore. "We called six times."
Willmore says when the FHP did finally get there about five hours later, an officer told him they wouldn’t be able to be of much help without a license plate number for the car. The FHP also told FOX35 that on the night of the crash, Willmore wasn't able to provide any vehicle information about the car that hit him.
Now, Willmore is doing all he can to try to find the driver.
"Really what I would want is to look them in the eye and ask them why they think it’s okay to hit another person with a car. They absolutely didn’t know if I was okay – I’m hunched on a curb not even standing when they take off."
Willmore has been handing out flyers explaining what happened and asking people to reach out if they have surveillance video or any other information that could help catch the driver.