MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man told Local 10 News on Wednesday that it could be months before he walks again after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver who left him for dead.
Fernando Rossello, 27, of Westchester, was stuck about 2 a.m. Sunday near Southwest 87th Avenue and 112th Street in Miami-Dade County.
"I was on my way to work when my car ran out of gas," he told Local 10 News reporter Michael Seiden from his hospital bed at Kendall Regional Medical Center. "A nice man took me to pick up gas. When I got back, I had filled up and was getting ready to go in my car and then all of the sudden, boom!"
Witnesses believe a white Ford Crown Victoria fled from the scene. Family members believe it may have significant front-end damage.
"It is very sad," Fernando Rosselo Sr. said " I hope (the driver) thinks about it and he comes out and says something about it."
"I'm very disappointed," Salvador Cajete, the victim's uncle, said. "You just left him. You don't do that to nobody. Not even an animal."
Local 10 News contacted the Florida Highway Patrol to see if an arrest was imminent and is awaiting a response.
Rossello was overcome with emotion when asked if he had a message for the driver who plowed into him and took off driving.
"Please be careful next time," he said as tears streamed down his face. "I'm alive, but next time won't be so lucky."
Investigators call hit-and-run crashes in South Florida an epidemic.
In 2015, state troopers investigated 92,623 hit-and-run crashes statewide, including 18,345 in Miami-Dade County, 10,943 in Broward and 682 in Monroe County.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.