Girl, 11, Seriously Injured In Hit-And-Run Crash

LAKELAND, FL — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help finding a motorist involved in Friday afternoon hit-and-run crash that left an 11-year-old girl seriously injured. A witness to the crash said the driver veered off the road, struck the child and kept going.

According to the sheriff’s office, the crash occurred around 4 p.m. Sept. 11 as Trinity Hamilton was walking west alongside Idlewild Street near Leslie Drive. A female motorist who witnessed the crash told deputies she saw the crash occur in her rear view mirror, an email from the sheriff’s office said.

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The woman told investigators an older model, white pickup truck approached the child then veered off the road and hit her, the email said. “The child went into the ditch on the side of the road, and the truck went back onto the roadway behind the witness’ car,” the email added.

The witness told deputies the driver was a white male in his 30s. He had brown hair and was wearing tinted glasses. The man took off from the scene and onto Lake Parker Drive, the sheriff’s office said. The witness “immediately then turned around and went to render aid to the victim,” the sheriff’s office.

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Hamilton was taken to a hospital in Tampa for treatment, the sheriff’s office said. She suffered serious injuries in the crash.

The truck is believed to be a two-door white Ford F-150 with a black stripe or black tape on the hood. Deputies say the truck may be missing a passenger side mirror and is likely to have damage to its front passenger headlamp.

Anyone with information about the crash or the suspect is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 863-298-6200. Anonymous tips may also be called into Heartland Crime Stoppers at 800-226-TIPS or by going online to www.P3tips.com.

No further information is available at this time.

Photos of the suspect truck courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office