Man ‘left for dead’ after hit and run needs help finding Ford F350

Feb. 14--A pedestrian hit by a truck on Jan. 30 on U.S. Highway 98 is asking the community to help find the person who "left him for dead" by using pieces from the truck found at the scene.

Stanley Crowder, a 44-year-old Mary Esther man, was walking on the right shoulder, headed westbound with traffic, toward his home at 3 a.m. when he was struck by what was confirmed by the Florida Highway Patrol as a 2003 Ford F350.

"I didn't hear or see anything," Crowder said. "When I came to, I was near the wooded area on the side of the highway."

Crowder said he spent over two hours on the shoulder with a broken leg, fractured ribs, a fractured tailbone, a deep laceration to the skull and two bulging disks as he attempted to flag down passersby with his white baseball cap.

"I didn't think no one was coming to help me," Crowder said. "I was crying by then. I just continuously yelled for help. I couldn't find my cell phone because it was knocked out of my pocket."

After a Waffle House customer heard Crowder's repeated cries, the customer followed his voice in the dark until he found Crowder and called 911.

"He asked if I was OK and I said, 'No, I'm in bad shape. My leg is broken.'"

According to Crowder, the state trooper who was called out did not collect the truck debris scattered on the roadway that morning. Instead, his family returned to the accident site later that day and collected the evidence.

"We reached out to the state trooper and gave him the parts," Crowder said.

"Nothing was even put out to try and find the hit-and-run driver," added family member Bobbie Ponder.

Crowder said the 2003 Ford F350 should have damage to the right side, a missing right side-view mirror and other missing pieces. The color of the vehicle is unknown.

"I want the perpetrator that hit me to be caught," Crowder said. "I don't have insurance and I'm still going back and forth to the hospital and still need surgeries once I heal up a little more."

Florida Highway Patrol reviewed camera footage in the area but has not found any more significant leads, according to Lt. Eddie Elmore, public affairs officer.

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