Police seeking help in hit-and-run on A1A

A 39-year-old woman is fighting for her after being plowed over on A1A in Fort Lauderdale 10 days ago as police seek the public’s help finding the driver and vehicle that have eluded them. Lynn Hessley, of Tamarac, was crossing State Road A1A near Seville Street about 10:40 p.m. on July 3 when a white Ford Mustang struck her and kept going, police said.

Police announced over the weekend that they had the license plate number of the Mustang. What they didn’t have was the driver. All that changed Monday when police issued a statement that they were now looking for a different white Mustang and this time the tag number was not known.

“This morning traffic homicide Investigators located the vehicle believed to have been involved in this incident. The owner of the vehicle was overwhelmingly cooperative with our investigation, and ultimately it was determined this was not the vehicle involved in this hit and run. Investigators have determined there may have been an additional vehicle involved in this incident. We are urging anyone in the public who may have witnessed or been involved in this crash to come forward and provide us with their account of the incident,” Fort Lauderdale Police Sgt. Deanna Greenlaw said in a news release Monday. Policed believe the Mustang is a 2015 to 2017 model and that it has multiple rear bumper stickers.

Surveillance video shows the Mustang driving south on A1A at the time of the incident. Several other vehicles stopped in front of the Westin hotel where an injured Hessley lay in the road. As of Monday, she remained in the intensive care unit at a Level 1 trauma hospital in Broward County. “The fact that they did leave her there is just a nightmare, so anybody who has any information at all, no matter how small, please come forward, please let us know,” said Hessley’s friend Donna Cappello.

The family’s GoFundMe page says Hessley sustained brain injuries and multiple major fractures. Because of restrictions on hospital visitors due to COVID-19, Hessley’s family and friends say they haven’t been able to see her. Hessley’s family has been passing out flyers and has offered a $2,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

“One minute everything is fine, and the next minute you get a phone call and your entire world is changed; there’s nothing but worry and fear and uncertainty,” said Hessley’s sister, Jennifer. “She has two dogs that are her entire world that miss her very much.”

Hessley previously worked as a midday, on-air host at WBEE, a radio station in Rochester, N.Y., under the alias Jesse Jordan, according to a tweet from Billy Kidd, the station’s music director.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to police through Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or online at browardcrimestoppers.org. Crime Stoppers is offering a $3,000 reward for tips they receive that lead to an arrest.