PINELLAS PARK, Fla — Florida Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate a crash that left a local father with serious injuries.
The family of Chad Craven are hoping someone will be held accountable after a reported hit-and-run crash.
Loved ones said it happened just before 10 p.m. on June 1 on State Road 64 near 162nd Street East. Craven was on his motorcycle heading east when they said a truck driver turned in front of him causing Craven to slide into the trailer behind it.
"He was traveling at about 60 miles per hour and when the truck had pulled out in front of him, he tried to go around it to avoid the truck," Amber Craven, Chad's wife, said. "He slid into it, causing his leg to smash between the trailer and his bike."
Chad Craven spent weeks at the hospital and is currently unable to walk while still dealing with a lot of pain. Amber Craven said the injuries left him with broken ribs. More surgeries are expected in the future.
The couple with two kids said it has left him limited in his ability to work and provide. More time has to be spent with various medical appointments.
"He has to struggle every day with reliving what the person did to him, leaving him on the side of the road like he was worthless," she said.
The Craven family said good Samaritans were able to stop and help Chad as he called for help.
The family said Chad Craven told them the unknown driver made a U-turn off a cul-de-sac, rolled down the window, and still decided to drive off.
"He left a human being lying in the middle of the road with not a care in the world and it's a shame to see people be that heartless," George Hannon, Amber Craven's brother, said.
Hannon said he was able to rush over and collect as much evidence from neighbors' pictures and surveillance videos as well.
Hannon said Chad Craven had to drag himself out of the road with his leg hurt from the crash.
"It completely obliterated his leg," Hannon said. "The person should be held accountable."
The family believes the truck in question may be a gray or silver Dodge 3500 and was pulling a dump trailer with ladders on the side and Bobcat equipment in the back.
Amber Craven said she wishes her husband didn't have to go through the ongoing pain and said she'd be by his side. That's what Chad did for Amber after she suffered from a spinal cord injury that has since left her in a wheelchair.
"It's going to be a long road, but I believe that Chad will overcome this. I know he will," she said.
The family said they hope a driver will be held accountable for the crash.
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