CRESTVIEW — A Crestview woman bears scars after a driver veered off the road Oct. 21 and struck her.
He or she never tried to help the woman or even see that she was OK.
'SHE CAME OUT OF HER SHOES'
Kelly Osmon, who lives in Grandview Heights, had just finished her evening run, and was debating whether to extend her jog.
“I remember looking at my phone. It was a Wednesday and I’m a big ‘Survivor’ fan,” Osmon said. “I was thinking, ‘Should I do another run?’ Then I said, ‘Oh no, it’s ‘Survivor’ night.’”
Before she could walk up her yard and into the house, she was hit by a driver who failed to negotiate the curve in front of her Oakcrest Drive house.
“She was hit hard enough that she came out of her shoes,” Jennifer Neel, a friend, said on the News Bulletin's Facebook page. “Her elbows hit the hood of the car, and (her) lower body and upper legs were hit as well.”
'IT'S FRUSTRATING'
The car — which the Florida Highway Patrol believes was a small, front-wheel drive, possibly silver vehicle — drove onto Osmon’s lawn before striking her.
"The person driving put the vehicle in reverse and then sped away," Neel said. "They left her laying in the grass with no regards for her life."
Osmon said the driver may have been texting, impaired or otherwise distracted, as it was before the change to Standard Time, and there was still daylight.
She received bruises and deep cuts, forcing her to suspend regular jogs.
“Maybe a week before that, I did my first half-marathon in a really long time, and now I can’t run at all,” Osmon said. “It’s frustrating.”
ONGOING INVESTIGATION
FHP filed a preliminary report for insurance, Osmon said, but the case remains open.
The Highway Patrol, Osmon and her supporters hope someone — possibly a body shop operator — recognizes the car, which investigators expect will have hood damage.
“Being there was no evidence, unless somebody saw something, there’s not a whole bunch they can do at this point,” Osmon said.
The lack of evidence, or witnesses, leaves Osmon and her friends frustrated.
"This individual (the driver) apparently has no respect for human life because, even if it were a texting-and-not-paying-attention incident, they could have at least made sure she was OK," Neel said.
"They didn't; they chose to drive away, not knowing if she was even alive."
If you saw a hit-and-run involving a small, front-wheel drive — possibly silver — vehicle, around 6:45 p.m. Oct. 21, or you work for a body shop that fixed such a vehicle with hood damage, call the Florida Highway Patrol, 484-5000.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview resident, friends seek help after hit-and-run