The driver of a pick-up truck that collided with another vehicle this weekend was killed when a third vehicle ran him down as he was inspecting his truck’s damage, according to deputies.
The Douglas County man’s wife and their 18-year-old son witnessed the scene from inside their gray Nissan as the man was struck at 5:20 Sunday morning, according to The Sun-Sentinel. The second accident occurred on West Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac, said Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, Dani Moschella. “It had to be horrific,” she said.
John W. Jenkins, 58, of Villa Rica, Georgia, was killed said investigators, as he and his family were returning home following a weekend away in South Florida, Moschella explained. The driver who struck Jenkins remained at the scene and was identified as Jerson R. Paul, 32, of Tamarac; he was driving a Dodge Ram. Meanwhile, according to The Sun Sentinel, the person involved in the first collision fled the scene.
A few hours following the Commercial Boulevard crash, which occurred at the entrance to Florida’s Turnpike, investigators announced that they located the hit-and-run vehicle with the help of video from the turnpike, The Sun-Sentinel reported. The vehicle involved in the initial crash is a model year, 2007 dark-blue Chevy Avalanche, which was located after 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The airbags had been deployed in the damaged truck that was partially concealed in a parking spot at an apartment building located at 313 SW First Court in Pompano Beach.
Paramedics from the Tamarac fire station transported Jenkins to Broward Health Medical Center. The Tamarac fire station is just a few yards away from the crash scene; Moschella said they heard the crash and ran over to help. Sadly, Jenkins was pronounced dead at the Fort Lauderdale hospital, according to Moschella, The Sun-Sentinel reported.
Debris from the crash was strewn over a broad area of the intersection, blocking westbound traffic on Commercial Boulevard and the exits from Commercial to the Florida Turnpike for more than five hours, according to The Sun-Sentinel. Jenkins’ sneakers and cellphone were found next to Jenkins’ damaged truck, said Moschella, as well as a large pool of blood.
Investigators were working on locating the Avalanche driver that hit Jenkins’ truck, Moschella said. Deputies appealed to the driver who fled. “He knows he’s not responsible for that fatality, but he left the scene,” Moschella said, according to The Sun-Sentinel. As of recent reports, investigator had not yet identified the driver, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“I was on the phone with the 911 operator, had just stepped away from my husband when I hear my son screaming, ‘Dad, Dad,’” Shirley Jenkins said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I said, ‘Oh, my God, someone just killed my husband.’ I couldn’t believe it.” Mrs. Jenkins said that her husband was killed on their son’s 18th birthday.
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