Here’s what we know about Clay County crash that left woman injured

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – News4Jax is working to clear up confusion surrounding a crash involving a driver and pedestrian in Clay County.

We’re going to take you through what we learned each day we’ve been reporting on this story and what we’re still working to learn.

On Sunday night, the Highway Patrol released surveillance video and photos of a driver who they said struck and injured a woman walking across Blanding Boulevard at Belmont Avenue within the crosswalk early Friday morning. Troopers described the crash as a hit-and-run and asked for the public to provide any information about the vehicle and driver involved. They also said the pedestrian was recovering at home.

Here are the three tweets about the crash that FHP sent out Sunday evening (Editor’s note: The video may be difficult to watch.):

News4Jax reported on this in our newscasts on Sunday and Monday and online.

On Tuesday, one of our reporters interviewed the woman who was hit, Monica DiMaio. DiMaio, a 39-year-old mother of two, told News4Jax that she ended up going to Orange Park Medical Center and has a broken knee cap, hip and multiple vertebrae.

“I lost my glasses when I got hit so I really couldn’t see. Didn’t know where my phone was. To be honest, I didn’t know where I was, I was really confused,” she recounted. “I was really confused about the whole situation. I saw the headlights as I was crossing, just as the car was hitting me. I didn’t really have much time to react.”

She also said after she was hit, she spoke with someone and asked that person to take her to her home.

“I’m not sure who I spoke to. I don’t know who I spoke to, but I asked whoever it was just to take me to my house because I live a quarter of a mile from that gas station, and I wasn’t hurting yet and I was very confused about what was going on,” DiMaio said. “I asked whoever it was if they could just take me to my house, and they brought me to my driveway, and right about when I was getting out of the car, I realized that I can’t, I can’t stand up, I can’t do anything.”

On Wednesday, FHP sent out a series of tweets, saying it had identified and located the driver and vehicle in the case due to “extensive investigative techniques by multiple agencies.”

“The driver is fully cooperating and assisting in the investigation,” the Highway Patrol said. “Due to the circumstances in this case, charges are being reviewed and will be issued in the very near future.”

FHP went on to say: “After crash, driver stopped and rendered aid to pedestrian. Pedestrian requested to be taken home and driver complied. However, it is still required to report a crash.”

Here are the three tweets that FHP sent about the case on Wednesday — none of which referred to the incident as a hit-and-run crash:

News4Jax then called FHP on Wednesday for clarity and to confirm the information in the tweets. We left a message, and FHP later confirmed that the driver who hit the woman did stop to help and took her home.

The surveillance video tweeted out Sunday by FHP did not show the driver stopping to help the woman who was hit. On Thursday, News4Jax asked FHP why the full surveillance video was not released on Sunday, and Master Sgt. Dylan Bryan, with the FHP Office of Public Affairs, said they got the video from another agency and they later got the longer-form video. Bryan said also it was mainly because they were looking for information on the vehicle and driver at the time. Bryan did not say which agency provided the video. News4Jax is working to find out.

“The video was released in the manner for informational purposes, trying to generate activity to find the identity of this driver and the location of the vehicle,” Bryan said.

Here’s how the FHP spokesperson said it happened: The woman went through the crosswalk, she was looking at her phone, the driver ran a red light, he hit her, she fell, he stopped the car, he went to help her, he consoled her, he asked if she wanted emergency response, she said no, take me home, he took her home. Bryan said that about an hour later, she decided she needed medical help and went to the hospital.

Later Thursday, FHP gave News4Jax a longer clip showing the driver pulling over and running to help the woman.

UNCUT: Traffic camera video from Clay County crash that left woman injured (Editor’s note: The video may be difficult to watch.)

News4Jax on Thursday also obtained audio of a 911 call that the woman’s friend placed some time after the driver dropped her off.

Friend: “A friend of mine got hit by a car on Blanding. She had the guy take her home, take her here and she didn’t think she needed to go to the hospital, but she needs to go to the hospital.”

DiMaio then begins speaking to dispatch.

Dispatch: “Did you lose consciousness?”

DiMaio: “I don’t know. I think it did knock me out, but I’m really not sure.”

She appears confused about the status of the driver.

Dispatch: “Do you know who it was that hit you?”

DiMaio: “I don’t know. Some guy, he came running up. (Inaudible.) I don’t know why.”

Dispatch: “The car that hit you took off?”

DiMaio: “Yes.”

The call continues.

Dispatch: “Did they continue going down Blanding that way?”

DiMaio: “He stopped, and I was confused. (Inaudible.) I told him just to bring me home.”

Dispatch: “So the person who hit you is the one who took you home?”

DiMaio: “Yes. Yes.”

News4Jax reached out several times on Thursday to DiMaio to ask if she’s aware that the person who took her home was the driver who struck her, but we have not heard back.

FHP said that the case is still being investigated as a hit-and-run, and that both people — the driver and pedestrian — could face charges because people are supposed to report a crash like this.

“The issue that we had here, even though he immediately stopped and rendered aid, neither one of the parties immediately reported this to law enforcement agency as required by Florida statute,” Bryan said.

No one has been charged at this time. According to FHP, both parties have been cooperating.