JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office needs the public’s help finding the suspect involved in a deadly hit-and-run behind an Arlington Walgreens overnight.
JSO said patrol officers responded to reports of an unresponsive man at 7224 Merrill Road in Arlington at 11:45 p.m. Monday.
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When they arrived on the scene, JSO said the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department pronounced the man dead at the scene. JSO investigators say they suspect the driver stuck and dragged the victim before they took off.
Both JSO and the victim’s family later identified him as a 40-year-old Brandon Venegas.
“You took off. You dragged my cousin. You could have called 911, we don’t know if he would have lived. You left him dying on the side of the road,” Misty, Brandon’s cousin, said.
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Misty said that when she first heard the news about Venegas, she immediately thought he was involved in the deadly head-on collision on Heckscher Drive. She was not expecting to find out her cousin was left to die in a Walgreens parking lot.
“Just if you’re out there and you’re watching and you’re the one who hit my cousin and you ran, know that there’s a lot of cameras around here,” Misty said. ”We’re going to find you, and you’re going to pay for what you did.”
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Action News Jax reached out to Walgreens for a statement, they replied:
“We are aware of the incident that took place. We are cooperating with law enforcement and further questions should be directed to them.”
We asked Walgreens to share any surveillance video they may have of the incident, and they said they could not share it with us.
JSO said this is the 70th traffic fatality in Duval County this year. If you have any information about who the suspect is, you are asked to reach out to JSO immediately.
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