Crime & Safety

Driver Sought After Hitting Woman In Wheelchair Holding Baby

The Florida Highway Patrol wants help locating a hit-and-run driver who hit a wheelchair carrying a woman holding a 9-month-old baby.

HOLIDAY, FL – The Florida Highway Patrol wants help locating a hit-and-run driver who hit a wheelchair carrying a woman with a 9-month-old baby in her arms.

The accident occurred May 11 on Bonita Road approaching Holiday Drive. Philip Martinez, 45, of Holiday, was pushing a wheelchair carrying 25-year-old Katharina Martinez and her baby along the shoulder of Bonita Road when they were hit be a car.

The car fled the scene. The three pedestrians were airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

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Witnesses described the car that hit them as a Lincoln Navigator with the Florida license plate FC86V.

On Tuesday, May 15, the Navigator was found abandoned in the parking lot of George's Breakfast Station, a restaurant in Tarpon Springs, and seized as evidence.

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The driver is believed to be a white man age 55 to 60.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FHP by calling *FHP or Crime Stoppers at 800-873-TIPS.

Images via FHP

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