AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) - A Sumter County family is pleading for the driver in a hit-and-run crash that left 18-year-old Jordan Tucker injured, with the driver still unaccounted for.

The crash happened outside a busy McDonald’s on East Lamar Street in Americus, a place Tucker’s mother says families visit every day without thinking twice.

“They left my son in the road,” Asha Cannon, Tucker’s mother, says.

According to an incident report from Americus Police, Tucker was struck by a silver Lexus that fled the scene. He was hospitalized, airlifted to Macon, and is now recovering at home.

Americus Police Incident report notes that the driver was in a Silver Lexus with the license plate number: SKC8268.

Cannon said the moment she learned her son had been hit is one she will never forget. She described answering her cell phone, thinking it was her son calling, but hearing another person on the telephone telling her that her son had been hit.

“He could have died out there,” she said. “The fact that he’s alive is nothing short of a miracle.”

A manager at the McDonald’s where the crash occurred confirmed surveillance cameras captured the incident. Police say that footage exists and may be released pending approval.

Investigators say witness cooperation is key in cases like this, especially in busy commercial areas where multiple drivers and pedestrians may have seen what happened.

The family says they are grateful to a stranger who stopped and helped their son after he was hit — a decision they believe made a critical difference.

Now, the mother is making a direct plea to the person responsible.

“Do the right thing,” she said. “Turn yourself in.”

Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash or who has information about the vehicle involved to contact the Americus Police.

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