Man seriously injured in Garden State Parkway hit-and-run in Bloomfield

Police are seeking the driver who hit a man checking his tire on the Garden State Parkway, then left the man lying injured in the road. Donald Drakeford, 63, of Perth Amboy, had pulled over on the

News 12 Staff

Apr 12, 2015, 6:46 AM

Updated 3,299 days ago

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Man seriously injured in Garden State Parkway hit-and-run in Bloomfield
Police are seeking the driver who hit a man checking his tire on the Garden State Parkway, then left the man lying injured in the road.
Donald Drakeford, 63, of Perth Amboy, had pulled over on the southbound side of the parkway at around 12:55 a.m. Friday near mile marker 152.2 in Bloomfield. Police say a driver struck Drakeford, dragging his body with the car and leaving him severely injured lying on the side of the parkway.
That driver then left the scene. Police now say the driver was possibly operating a Honda Civic from model year 2013 to 2015.
"To drive off and leave someone knowing that you caused bodily harm to that person and leave them there ... I'm terribly upset," said Darlyn Copper, Drakeford's sister-in-law.
The hit-and-run driver allegedly stopped, picked up debris from the accident, got back in the vehicle and then drove away from the scene without helping him, Drakeford told Copper.
Drakeford, who crawled to his car, tried to call 911, but wasn't able to. Another driver stopped and called police.
Drakeford, who is the father of six children, suffered a compound fracture to his leg and is in the intensive care unit of University Hospital in Newark.
State police believe that the hit-and-run driver's vehicle may have damage to the right front side. They are asking anyone who may have been in the area at the time of the accident, which happened near state police barracks, to contact them at 732-441-4500, extension 3431.


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