Fiancé of woman injured in Alachua County hit-and-run asks driver responsible to come forward

An 18-year-old woman was hospitalized Friday night after the car she was riding in collided with another on State Road 24 near Southwest 138th Street.

The Florida Highway Patrol said a driver was heading west on the road, while Devon Roberts and Autumn Waters were heading east.

Detectives said the unknown driver attempted to pass another car but crashed into the car being driven by Roberts. Both drivers attempted to swerve out of the way, causing the passenger side, where Waters was riding, to take most of the damage.

The driver then ran away on foot.

"I just remember like the sound of the crash and everything and she wasn't moving she was unconscious and stuff so it really worried me and I thought she was like gone you know, then I was holding her and she finally got a big breath of air and started screaming," said Roberts, who is also Waters fiancé.

Roberts also said he was grateful a friend of his happened to be a witness and kicked out his window so he could escape.

"He was a God sent angel. He saw me and I immediately knew who he was and asked him to kick out the window to pull me out of the car and we went to her door and moved the dash and I had to go back around to pull her out of the car and we put her off the side of the road in the grass," said Roberts.

While Roberts suffered minor injuries, she was rushed to UF Health with serious injuries. TV20 is told she is scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday. Her mother said, off camera, it will be a long road to recovery.

“It would be better for him to probably turn himself in or it will be a lot less for him and there's a lot of people hurting right now," said Roberts. "You gotta be a coward and a not great human being to be able to hit and leave two people laying on the side of the road like that not knowing what's going on so it's not right.”

FHP said the driver responsible for the crash left their 2007 Chevy Tahoe at the scene.

Anyone with information is urged to contact FHP at *347.

Waters' family has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for her medical expenses. Donations can be made