A woman remained hospitalized in stable but critical condition Friday as troopers worked to identify the driver of an abandoned Lexus.
ORLANDO, Fla. — A man in a wheelchair and a dog were killed and a woman was critically injured after a driver veered off Lee Road, struck them on a raised median and fled the scene Thursday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash turned a familiar stretch of road in northwest Orlando into an active traffic homicide investigation just before 9 p.m. near Lee Road and Adanson Street. Troopers said a 2021 Lexus ES traveling eastbound left the roadway and hit two adults and a dog standing on the curbed center median. The man and the dog died at the scene. The woman was taken to a hospital, where troopers said Friday she was in stable but critical condition. Investigators later found the Lexus abandoned nearby and said they were still trying to determine who was driving it.
According to troopers, the Lexus was approaching the intersection shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday when it ran off the road and climbed onto the raised median. The vehicle struck the man in the wheelchair, the woman and the dog in a single sweep across the median, then continued eastbound without stopping. The force of the impact sent debris from the wheelchair into a 2006 Toyota Tacoma that was stopped in the westbound left-turn lane, investigators said. The 20-year-old Orlando man driving the pickup was not seriously hurt and remained at the scene. By early Friday, the intersection had become the center of a widening search as troopers documented the crash, notified relatives and traced the damaged Lexus after it was found unoccupied in a nearby parking lot. Troopers did not immediately release the names of the people struck, saying identification was pending notification of next of kin.
The known facts of the crash came from a preliminary report released by the Florida Highway Patrol and repeated through the day by local television outlets. Investigators said the Lexus showed damage that matched the collision, but they had not publicly identified the driver by Friday afternoon. That left a central question unanswered: not who owned the car, but who was behind the wheel when it left Lee Road. The woman who survived remained the only injured victim taken from the median alive. Troopers said her condition was stable but critical, an update that suggested doctors had stabilized her after emergency treatment even as her injuries remained severe. Officials have not said whether speed, impairment, distraction or another factor caused the Lexus to leave the roadway. They also have not said whether the driver knew exactly whom the car had struck before leaving. Those findings typically come later in a traffic homicide inquiry, after investigators review the vehicle, crash scene, physical evidence and witness statements.
The intersection of Lee Road and Adanson Street sits in a heavily traveled corridor lined with businesses, driveways and turn lanes, the kind of roadway where pedestrians on a median can be exposed to fast-moving traffic from several directions at once. Residents interviewed by local TV stations said the man and woman were familiar figures in the area and often spent time on the median, where drivers stopped at the light could see them. That detail gave the crash a sharper local impact Friday, especially because the victims were not crossing the street when troopers say they were hit. Instead, investigators said, they were standing on the center median when the Lexus left the eastbound lanes. The crash also fit a broader pattern that Florida officials have highlighted in recent years: hit-and-run crashes remain a persistent statewide problem, and pedestrians account for a large share of the deaths tied to those cases. In Florida’s 2024 traffic crash report, the state recorded 97,902 hit-and-run crashes and 246 fatalities.
For now, the case remains open and criminal charges have not been announced. Florida Highway Patrol told FOX 35 on Friday, “This is a very active criminal investigation,” and added that “charges will not be made until the entire traffic homicide investigation is complete.” That process usually includes securing the abandoned vehicle, identifying and interviewing possible drivers, comparing physical evidence from the scene to damage on the car and collecting any available surveillance video from nearby businesses or traffic cameras. Troopers have already said the Lexus was found abandoned in a nearby parking lot, a detail that could help narrow the timeline between the impact and the moment the car was left behind. Investigators also asked for tips from the public and directed anyone with information to call *FHP or Crimeline. As of Friday evening, troopers had not announced an arrest, released the victims’ identities or said when they expected to name a suspect.
By Friday, the aftermath extended beyond the crash report. Local coverage described grief among people who knew the pair from the area, and residents said the man and woman were widely recognized along the Lee Road corridor. Their accounts added a human dimension to a case otherwise defined by measurements, lane positions and vehicle damage. The dog’s death at the scene underscored how sudden the crash was, and the wheelchair debris that struck the nearby pickup illustrated the violence of the impact even though the Tacoma driver was physically unharmed. Troopers’ account also drew attention to how quickly the scene changed: one moment, three living beings were on a median waiting in the middle of a busy road; moments later, two were dead, one was fighting for her life and the striking vehicle had disappeared eastbound. By the end of Friday, the strongest public update remained the simplest one: investigators had found the car, but not yet publicly identified the person they believe left two deaths and a critically injured woman behind on Lee Road.
The investigation remained active Friday night, with troopers still working to identify the driver and notify relatives of the dead. The next public milestone is likely the release of the victims’ names or an announcement about charges once the traffic homicide investigation is complete.
Author note: Last updated March 21, 2026.