Deptford Police Searching For Hit-And-Run Driver Who Left Ryan Harley Fighting For Life, His Loved Ones 'Broken'
DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- Deptford police are trying to help a family desperate to find the driver who hit a father of three crossing the road and never stopped. The victim, 33-year-old Ryan Harley, remains on life support at Cooper University Hospital days after the hit-and-run.
The victim's family tells Eyewitness News that Ryan Harley was actually on the phone with his mom when he was hit. They say she heard a horn blare, her son scream, "wait, wait," and then a crash followed by silence on the line. Now, they're hoping someone may see this and say something.
"She was like, 'I heard it, I heard him hit my son,'" Brianna Garland, Harley's girlfriend, said.
That was the call that changed everything for Garland, who met Harley when she was just 14. The pair have been together ever since and have three children.
"I'm just trying to hold myself together for them, but I'm really, I'm really broken," she said.
Last Saturday around 6:30 p.m., the couple went to Walmart in Deptford to pick up medicine. Harley split off to go run an errand across Delsea Drive but never came back.
"We walked out, we tried calling his cellphone," Garland said.
Garland says even when she saw the police and medics she couldn't believe it could be Harley.
"The last thing I would have thought was he was hit," she said.
About a half-hour later, officials confirmed Harley was struck by an SUV going southbound. The impact ripped off his shoes and threw him into oncoming traffic. The driver never stopped.
"The fact that you just left, that's what hurts the most," Garland said.
Detectives are asking for the public's help to find the person behind the wheel of this white or silver 2008 - 2012 Ford Escape with a New Jersey tag."
"It's going to have some front-end damage, it's going to have some pieces missing," Deptford Township Det. Robert Jones said.
Now as Harley fights for his life, his family is fighting for justice.
"If you're a good person, you'll do the right thing and turn yourself in," Garland said.
