Man pleas for hit-and-run driver to come forward

COCONUT GROVE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida man is lucky to be alive after a hit-and-run driver struck him while jogging.

Eric Tinseman went for his routine jog along South Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove on Feb. 6, shortly after 7 p.m. While running on the path facing traffic, he saw a dark-colored Jeep Liberty swerve off the road. The vehicle then hit Tinseman.

The victim said the driver of the vehicle paused for several seconds and then took off. "As I looked back and saw the car drive away," he said, "I saw that my leg was sideways, and that's the last time I would look at the leg because I didn't want to look at it after that."

Tinseman was rushed to Mercy Hospital, where a doctor warned him about a possible amputation to his leg. "Thoughts that no one should ever go through. You just think about every aspect of your life," said Tinseman.

Doctors were able to save his leg. A few days later, after surgery, in the mail came a scheduled delivery he would be giving his girlfriend. "So I proposed on Tuesday. I literally had to ask her to help me get on one knee because she's been helping me out with all the process, and all of the things that go about not being able to move," he said, "and she got me on one knee, and she said yes, thankfully."

Tinseman, his fiancée and his attorney now want the driver to come forward. "It should be as simple as that if that driver wants to do the right thing, but if not, we are looking to the community to do the right thing for Eric," said attorney Brad Kaplan.

"Don't continue to make a mistake, and turn yourself in so we can have some finality to this," said Tinseman.

Tinseman has several months of recovery ahead of him.

Police are now searching for a dark-colored, newer model Jeep Liberty with some damage to the front right side of the vehicle.

If you have any information on this hit-and-run-driver or vehicle, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.

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