Police Release Surveillance Images Related to Deadly Hit and Run Investigation
HUDSON, FL- One week after a deadly hit and run accident in Hudson, Florida, abcactionnews.com reports that the police released surveillance images that were captured of the suspects. At around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, Jamie Patterson, 46, was struck by a vehicle as she was crossing U.S. 12 in Hudson. Patterson died at the scene.
The vehicle that hit Patterson was a black 2015 Ford Taurus Limited. The suspects are two men who were seen on Wednesday night leaving a strip club called the Brass Flamingo which is located a couple of miles from the site of the accident. Witnesses say that after hitting Patterson, the Taurus turned right on S.R. 52 and drove east.
Patterson’s family has spoken out about the accident and is asking the suspects to turn themselves in, and for anyone with information about the identity of the suspects to come forward. Patterson’s daughter has pleaded with the suspects, saying that her family needs answers and closure in the wake of this tragedy. Patterson’s father warned the men who killed his daughter that it would not be easy to hide for long with the abundance of evidence now in police possession.
Florida hass taken steps to reduce the number of hit and run accidents in the state. Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles states that hit and run crashes currently account for 25% of car crashes. While the vast majority of these accidents result only in property damage, a number have resulted in injuries and fatalities.
In 2014, Florida legislature entered the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, which created harsher penalties for drivers who leave the scene of an accident. Aaron Cohen was 31-years-old and a father of two when he was killed in a hit and run accident in 2012. Drivers involved in fatal hit and runs in Florida now face a mandatory minimum sentence of 4 years in prison.
