JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On September 22, 2024, the lives of Natalie Nguyen and her husband, Diego Rodriguez, were changed in an instant, as victims of a hit-and-run crash on Jacksonville’s west side.
“He had internal bleeding, laceration of the liver, laceration of his right hand, he had to have emergency surgery, chest tube put in,” Nguyen said. “I had a collapsed lung, broken ribs, and we’ve been left with over $40,000 worth of medical debt.”
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According to a JSO crash report Action News Jax received, Natalie and her husband were driving their motorcycle north on Lane Avenue in the left lane, when a black Chevy Avalanche truck in the right lane made an illegal U-turn right in front of them without warning.
Natalie told Action News Jax, that’s when she and her husband ran right into that truck, the crash sending both flying off the motorcycle.
The crash report says the truck then “squealed its tires” and the driver took off from the scene.
Read: Elderly St. Augustine man killed, teenager seriously hurt in wrong-way crash
“Nothing has happened since the accident,” Nguyen told Action News Jax Thursday morning. “There’s no tips, there’s been no leeway on an investigation, so we’re hoping for some help.”
The report says only one store nearby was able to catch the crash on its surveillance cameras. However, between the surveillance video, Natalie and her husband, and witnesses, none produced a good description of the driver or the license plate number.
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The original JSO crash report says the case was then closed due to “lack of follow-up investigation.”
“They sped off at a high rate of speed, so there was like no indication of anybody following them, nobody got a license plate or anything,” Nguyen said. “It just kinda felt like it was just brushed under the rug. And we didn’t get any justice on our end or any justice from our law enforcement, so.”
In JSO’s report it also detailed a follow-up investigation done in October.
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That report details that a detective checked all surrounding homes known to have a Chevy Avalanche but were able to find none with damage consistent with the crash or any indications of recent repairs.
That investigation was also closed due to a lack of leads.
Now, Natalie and her husband are asking for anybody who may have information to come forward. Anybody with information can come forward by calling the Jacksonville’s Sheriff Office at 904-630-0500.
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