Staff Reports
J.C. Derrick
A vehicle struck and seriously injured a 20-year-old woman standing on US Highway 19 north of Inglis in Levy County on Sunday afternoon.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) release, a 36-year-old woman from Tampa was driving a 2010 Chevrolet Equinox south on US 19 just south of SE Shirley Road at 2:15 p.m. when she hit a pedestrian standing in the outside lane.
The pedestrian came to a rest on the west grass shoulder of US 19 and the sedan came to a stop in the center median.
Emergency responders transported the pedestrian to UF Shands Hospital in Gainesville where she is in serious condition.
No injuries were reported for the driver or her two passengers – a 56-year-old Tampa woman and a 12-year-old Tampa boy.
Has there been any update available on the young woman that was struck by the vehicle and seriously injured last Sunday afternoon, December 10, 2023, on Hwy 19 in southern Levy County?
My wife and I were traveling north on 19 and witnessed the injured woman, her party of several other young people in swimwear with their vehicle stopped on shoulder alongside of the roadway, the presence of oncoming traffic while she played out in the road looking back at them while they were lined up in row making cell phone videos/photographs of her, which all resulted in her being struck by the vehicle while this was taking place. My wife observed her flying through the air fully outstretched spinning around and around in air while elevated a few feet high above the surface of roadway. We then watched as the members of her party retreated to the west tree line of right-of-way after she was struck. We pulled over immediately and called 911 at exactly 2:07 PM, perhaps a mere 2-minutes after this incident occurred, and think we were one of the first reports of this most unfortunate incident to the E911 operator. We were promptly quizzed and told by her that we did not need to stick around and could just leave. We then traveled the rest of way back to Tallahassee where we live. We do not think this incident was any fault of the southbound driver, but that the young woman and the other young people in her party from the stopped car basically precipitated this whole event by their irresponsible and dangerous actions. We hope that all other members of her party were charged afterwards and had their cell phones each confiscated by responding law enforcement officers to review their digital records made of these events. We observed multiple parties to be standing in a row along shoulder and recording her out in the road before she was struck by the vehicle. We feel we watched as they put her up to this stunt which may have gotten her killed in the process. Anyone from law enforcement or with more info on the young woman’s condition may reach back out to us as per the contact information provided below. Thank You.