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Hearing-impaired man leaves note after driving over dead body in St. Johns County

Deputies are searching for a driver who hit and killed a pedestrian who had been walking on U.S. 1 in St. Johns County and then continued driving. Another driver, who is hearing impaired, ran over the body and then circled back to help.

David Bicknell is still in shock after driving over the body early Friday morning. A hearing impairment kept him from calling the police himself.

He told Action News Jax, “I noticed that there was a blood trail and I thought that maybe someone had hit (an) animal, a deer or something. Then before I could stop, I noticed a body was laying there and I ran over it.”

He turned into a nearby gas station where he wrote a note asking a clerk to call the police. When they arrived, he went back to the scene to help them sift through evidence.

Bicknell explained, “I didn’t think that anyone would hit someone and leave them there. Just let them lay there on the side of the road like that.”

Bicknell said when he ran over the body, he didn’t see another car.

“The road was completely empty. There were no cars in front of me or behind me. I was alone on that road,” said Bicknell.

Hours after the accident, he’s determined to bring the driver to justice.

“I couldn’t just leave a body there and let another car hit it. That’s not the humane thing to do,” said Bicknell.