LORAIN, Ohio — A Lorain mother is calling for accountability after her son was seriously injured in a hit-skip crash on Tuesday.
RELATED: 22-year-old man on e-bike injured in Lorain hit-skip
Crystal Dotson shared a video of her son, Jayson Merry, from Tuesday morning. The 22-year-old was holding a 65-pound weight in each hand outside of a garage filled with workout equipment. Dotson said fitness is one of his two favorite hobbies.
“That bike and him working out is his life, basically,” she said.
She explained Jayson is on the autism spectrum and has some communication and other challenges that have prevented him from driving. When he received an electric bicycle for his 21st birthday, it afforded him a new freedom.
“That was his way of getting around. And we live right down from the lake, so he liked to go there a lot. That was like his getaway,” Dotson said. “We had a talk before I got him the bike about the safety of the streets and stuff. And he’s very aware of his surroundings constantly because traffic and stuff scares him.”
She said she took care to find an e-bike with lights and turn signals. The safety measures failed to prevent a serious crash Tuesday night.
Around 9:30 p.m., Jayson was riding in the family’s neighborhood, but the trip was cut short at Oberlin Avenue and West 12th Street.
A neighbor in that area told News 5 she saw the 22-year-old stop in the southbound lane on Oberlin, waiting for a car to pass so he could turn onto West 12th Street. The neighbor said a car came up behind the bike at full speed, hit Jayson and then immediately drove away.
“It just blows my mind, it really does,” said Dotson. “Even if she might’ve been under the influence or looking at her phone or something, you hit a human being and you just left them laying in the street.”
In the crash report, a witness told Lorain Police the driver appeared to be a woman in a charcoal-colored Ford Fusion.
The Lorain Police Department’s Traffic Division told News 5 that other details are limited and called it an ongoing investigation.
Jayson was not wearing a helmet at the time, though Dotson said he typically did so for longer rides. He suffered a skull fracture and a broken collarbone.
Dotson said her son was awaiting surgery to set his collarbone on Friday. She talked to News 5 outside of University Hospitals’ main campus in Cleveland, where she said Jayson had been sedated because of the extreme pain.
“He called me at one point, saying he was in so much pain he wanted to die,” Dotson said.
She said she hopes the driver involved takes responsibility.
“I just hope that this person, it gets the best of them and they finally realize what they did and they go turn themselves in,” she said.
If you have information, you can reach out to the Lorain Police Traffic Division at 440-204-2115.
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV, on Facebook CatherineRossTV or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com.
