Hit & Run Driver Strikes 2 Children, 2 Adults Before Fleeing Scene On Foot
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Police are investigating a hit and run crash at one of Fort Lauderdale's busiest spots.
Four people, two of which are children, were struck by a car on Las Olas Boulevard and A1A early Wednesday evening.
The children, a 5-year-old and a 4-year-old, along with their father, were transported to Broward Health Medical Center. One of the children was a trauma alert.
Witnesses say there was a screech and then they saw a car hit another car and jump the curb.
The car then backed up, drove off and hit a bus.
That's when the driver got out and ran away.
Claudia Martinez, the wife and mother of the hospitalized victims, spoke to CBS4.
She was banged up a bit but was eager to talk in hopes that news coverage of what happened will help catch the driver.
"We were standing there waiting for the light so that we could cross the street, and a car came from the left hand side really fast and hit the other car beside it and it came toward us and hit my family and me and threw us to the side," said Martinez. "Then he reversed. I feel hopeless. My children were there. All I could do was think about them. I can't imagine being without them and that man just coming and leaving and having no heart to stop."
An employee at Elbo Room told CBS4 it was all loud enough to get the attention of everyone inside the noisy bar.
"The first white BMW was stopped at the light," said witness Bill Griswold. "The second one came up behind it, hit it, jumped the curb and hit the family. I think it was a wagon. The kids popped up. The father put his hand on the hood of the car and the guy backed up and took off down the street."
Griswold says the hit and run driver nearly hit another group of people during the attempted escape.
The manager at Elbo Room was able to write down the car's license plate number.
Martinez is begging anyone who knows who the driver is to call the police.
Businesses in the area tell CBS4 they have surveillance video and they are going to give to police.
