Families seeking public's help following hit-and-run crash on E. 6th Street Sunday
Families in town for the Formula 1 race this weekend are seeking the public's help after a driver ran a red light and hit two young men on scooters before fleeing from the scene.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Families in town for the Formula 1 race this weekend are seeking the public's help after a driver ran a red light and hit two young men on scooters before fleeing from the scene.
Jacob Caldwell and Wesley McArthur were in Austin this past weekend, along with their families, to experience the Formula 1 Lenovo United States Grand Prix at Austin's Circuit of the Americas race track. After Sunday's races, Caldwell said their families went out to dinner on Sixth Street, where they had been staying at an Airbnb.
Caldwell's step dad, Shane Willoughby, and Wesley's dad Warren McArthur returned to their Airbnb after dinner. Caldwell, Wesley and Caldwell's step-brother, Hugo Willoughby, decided to grab drinks at Lucky Duck off East Sixth Street. As they were scootering back to their Airbnb, they said a driver ran a red light, slamming into Caldwell and Wesley. ATCEMS responded to the scene at Comal and East Sixth streets, reporting late Sunday One of the two patients involved was unconscious.
Hugo told KXAN the driver exited his vehicle, a black Volkswagen Tiguan, before fleeing the scene and driving north up Chicon Street. He appeared to be a white male who was approximately 5'6", between 140 and 150 pounds, bald or had little hair and was wearing blue jeans and a red, short shirt.
Left to right: Wesley McArthur, Hugo Willoughby and Jacob Caldwell were in Austin for the Formula 1 races this weekend when Jacob and Wesley were hit by a driver while the two were riding scooters on East 6th Street. The driver fled the scene. (Courtesy: Jamie Willoughby) 
Left to right: Hugo Willoughby, Shane Willoughby, Jacob Caldwell, Wesley McArthur and Warren McArthur attend the Formula 1 races in Austin. (Courtesy: Jamie Willoughby) 
Hugo Willoughby captured footage of a hit-and-run driver after the driver ran a red light and hit Jacob Caldwell and Wesley McArthur while the latter two were riding scooters down East 6th Street. (Courtesy: Jamie Willoughby)
Caldwell sustained facial injuries, including a broken nose that will require plastic surgery, in the next few days. Wesley remains hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury, his father Warren told KXAN.
"Just working through every hour and little bits here and there, with hopefully more improvements," Warren said. "At the moment, just waiting for some good news and some major breakthroughs at this stage."
While Caldwell was able to recount the moments leading up to the crash, he said it happened so quickly that it was difficult to really register what was happening.
"We headed through an intersection with the green light, and the next thing I know, we were on the ground," he said. "Just one of those things that happened so fast that I can't really recollect everything that happened in those few seconds."
Caldwell's mom, Jamie Willoughby, told KXAN she's incredibly grateful for the bystanders and business owners who came out to check on and render aid to Caldwell and Wesley. She said her family is seeking for any help from the public to identify the driver and help bring justice and clarity following this crash.
"I got the dreaded phone call, the midnight phone call, from my husband Shane about Jacob and clearly, panic mode set in at that point," she said.
They asked anyone with information to report it to the Austin Police Department, with the case number related to the crash noted as 232951546. Anyone with tips related to APD cases can report it on the department's Crime Stoppers website.
The Austin Police Department confirmed to KXAN it was investigating a crash incident late Sunday that matched this case. They said the investigation is ongoing and no additional information on a suspect or case updates is available at this time.