ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Marco Torres and his girlfriend Lyric Bushnell were out celebrating her 26th birthday last Saturday, when things took a turn.
“We had a good night,” Torres said. “Everything went perfect.”
It was around 1 a.m, they ordered a ride share and were on their way home. They were at the intersection of 4th Ave. North, and 3rd St. North. The SUV they were in had the green light. Then, according to video showing the crash, a champagne colored Infiniti ran the light crashing into the SUV. The impact was so hard, the SUV flipped several times.
“It heard the driver kind of speed up little bit and swerve,” Torres said. “That’s when I looked over to the side and I just seen headlights.”
Torres, Bushnell, and their driver were all injured. Bushnell couldn’t move, according to Torres. He tried to pry her door open, but he couldn’t.
According St. Pete Police, the driver and the passenger in the Infiniti got out and left.
“We are trying to find these two individuals so, that way we can proceed with the case because it can be very detrimental when you leave the scene of a crash and don’t check on the other vehicle,” said police spokesperson Ashley Marie Limardo.
Police checked the Infiniti, and determined it’s not stolen. They have not been able to track down the two men in the video.
Torres was released from Bayfront Health St. Petersburg Wednesday morning. Bushnell wasn’t and might have to have more surgeries due to her injuries.
“She’s a fighter and she’s hanging in there,” Michelle Cottom said. “She told me she plans on making a quick recovery.”
Cottom is Bushnell’s mother, and she has a message for the driver of the car that hit her.
“My daughter’s a beautiful 26-year-old with two babies and you just left her there along with the other people in the car,” she said. “I can’t even fathom.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with mounting medical bills, since neither Bushnell nor Torres can work right now.
