Bradenton man on motorcycle seriously hurt in hit-and-run crash

Florida Highway Patrol is searching for a hit-and-run driver who left a motorcyclist seriously injured after a crash in Manatee County on Monday.

The motorcyclist, 31-year-old James “Jimmy” Bynum of Bradenton, remained in medical care on Wednesday awaiting surgery on a shattered leg and foot, a family member said.

The accident occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday at the intersection of 26th Street West and 38th Avenue West in Bradenton, troopers say.

A driver in a dark-colored Hyundai Sonata was traveling southbound on 26th Street, and Bynum was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle northbound on 26th Street. At the road’s intersection with 38th Avenue, the driver in the Hyundai made a left-hand-turn that violated the motorcyclist’s right-of-way, according to FHP.

The sedan hit the right side of the motorcycle and caused Bynum to fly out of the seat as the bike overturned and landed in the opposite lane of 26th Street. Instead of stopping, the sedan’s driver completed the turn and fled the scene, heading east on 38th Avenue.

Bynum sustained serious injuries, according to FHP, and was transported to a local trauma center.

Bynum’s older sister, Melissa Bynum-Shelby, said that when Florida Highway Patrol closed the investigation into the crash earlier this week, she took the matter into her own hands.

Bynum-Shelby said that she went to the scene of the crash and collected a headlight and door handle that were left behind. She also obtained surveillance footage of the accident from a nearby resident. A dealership then verified that the Hyundai Sonata was a 2013-2017 model, according to Bynum-Selby.

She also shared the news of the crash on Facebook and prompted a flood of emails to FHP.

“Apparently everyone was emailing FHP all last night into the wee hours of the morning, so they reopened the case,” Bynum-Shelby said on Wednesday.

An FHP captain that reached out to Bynum-Shelby on Wednesday did not provide an explanation as to why the case had been closed, according to Bynum-Shelby, but said that it had been reopened and troopers were coming to collect the evidence.

Trooper Kenneth Watson, a hit-and-run investigator for the Manatee County area, said he understands why the family might be upset upon seeing that the original case was closed. However, he said it was by no means the end of the investigation.

“When we close out a case it’s because we’re passing it on to another investigator so they can go into our system and pick up that case. That trooper was closing it out to give it to the hit-and-run investigator, which in this case happens to be me,” Watson said.

Watson said he had gotten the case on Wednesday morning and was continuing the investigation.

“We work hand in hand with DHSMV (Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles). We’re pulling all of the data based on the vehicle that we have,” Watson said. “So I’m doing a tri-county search and finding out where all the vehicles are that match the description of what we’re looking for.”

“The reason that we have independent investigators is that we have the time to go ahead and follow up on these cases. We’re not continuously going to crashes like other troopers are. We’re able to pick up a case and kind of zoom in on it.”

Watson added that it was not good if evidence was left at the scene but said that in this case, troopers would not be interested in a headlight. Troopers had also collected surveillance video of the incident, Watson said.

“The taillight we have, that is what we are interested in,” Watson said.

Watson said that the vehicle appeared to be dragging something as it left the scene in the surveillance video, so troopers were scouring the area for a bumper on Wednesday.

“Or at the very least, that will give us more probable cause if we see a vehicle matching that description and it’s missing its bumper,” Watson said.

Anyone who has information about the crash can contact Florida Highway Patrol at 239-938-1800 or by dialing *347 on any mobile phone. To submit information anonymously and be eligible for a reward, tips can be sent to Manatee County Crime Stoppers at manateecrimestoppers.com or 866-634-TIPS.

Bynum’s family is also offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the driver.

This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 12:50 PM.