Captain JFRD admits crashing a car into a fence causing over $50,000 in damage – Action News Jax

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tens of thousands of dollars in damage to a Jacksonville homeowner’s property. A car accident took away their shed, their motorcycles and half of a fence; now they want the driver to pay for it.

Action News Jax has confirmed that the car involved belongs to Capt. Christopher Lewis of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department. In the accident report that Action News Jax obtained from multiple sources, it says Captain Lewis told detectives he was the driver.

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The sources’ accident report says he looked at his GPS screen, looked up and saw a car stopped in the road, swerved to avoid it and that’s when he crashed. crushed. The sources report goes on to say that he could not give a reason why he had not reported the accident in addition to saying that he did not have his phone. He also says he had a scratch on his left cheek.

No arrests were made but he was cited for leaving the scene of the accident without giving information about more than $50,000 in damage.

The owner wouldn’t speak on camera but told Action News he heard a loud noise and saw the car smoking on his property, claiming he saw a man get out of the passenger side. The police report says they were called for a hit-and-run and witnesses saw a man walking down the street away from the accident.

“Which will be key and determining that if an airbag goes off in the car there will be blood on it and that will be collected,” said Jax Action News legal and safety expert Dale Carson.

The police report says they also believe this accident is related to two other incidents, one involving a drunk driver and another involving a reckless driver.

Action News Jax tried to contact Lewis on Thursday but had no luck.

As for recovering nearly $50,000 in damages, Carson said insurance will have to handle it all.

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“To pay the owner as little as possible and for the owner to fight back and get as much as possible. The vehicle that caused the damage is also potentially liable, quite obviously, and it depends on whether that individual car and the owner have what’s called property coverage,” Carson said.

As well as confirming it was Captain Lewis, JFRD said it was aware of the incident but could not comment on ongoing investigations.

The owner tells Action News Jax they’re glad everyone is okay, saying their son often works in the shed, but was grateful he wasn’t that night. They hope for some accountability in the future.

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