Clearwater hit-and-run crash: Family still seeks closure 10 years later, no suspect caught

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Published  November 20, 2024 6:50pm EST
FOX 13 News
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Search for hit-and-run driver 10 years later

Kailey Tracy reports

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Nov. 20 is a day Thomas Baltimore would like to forget, but one that he wakes up every day remembering.

"That's kind of one of the first things that runs through my mind," Baltimore said. "You know, what if and why are they such a coward that they just can't own their mistake," he said.

Clearwater Police say that around 7:40 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2014, 22-year-old Martin Baltimore was going westbound on his motorcycle on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard at Hampton Road when a car turned in front of him to go north on Hampton Road. Police say the vehicles collided, and the driver of the black or dark-colored box-style vehicle never stopped.

READ MORE: Tampa man arrested in deadly hit-and-run crash that killed pedestrian

"I was the traffic sergeant back in the day when this case actually happened and responded directly to the scene back in 2014," Deputy Chief Michael Walek of the Clearwater Police Department said. "To this day, we remain relentless in following up on this vehicle that committed this horrific crime," Walek said.

Walek said officers canvassed businesses, put out fliers, went to body shops and new car dealerships, chased down more than ten tips, posted on social media about the case, and had a digital board near the scene.

"We've exhausted all means when it comes to that type of stuff. We really need that one person to come forward that saw something, or even if it's not the driver, if they don't want to come forward if it's someone that knows a driver or somebody said something to them, that's what we need," Walek said.

Martin’s parents said he wanted to go to school to get medical training to be able to help people. 

"He was so special and just coming into the best part of his life," his mom, Lori Leverock, said. 

"He was just a good, fun-loving kid, you know, and he would do anything for anybody. I mean, anybody," Baltimore said. "It has devastated this whole family … 10 years today. Ten years of not being able to talk to him or see him," Baltimore said.

Leverock said Martin loved musicals and Disney World. He also has a brother, with whom he was very close.

Walek pleads "to the one person or persons that were in the car that day. We need them to come forward and say they were involved in it, or we need a witness to come forward and say, ‘Hey, I know that this car did it,’ or a body shop or someone who fixed a car in a unique or suspicious circumstance."

Walek added, "Even if they're not sure, call us. Let us follow up on that investigation," Walek said.

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Baltimore said he has not received many updates on the case from the Clearwater Police Department over the past decade.

Deputy Chief Walek said they haven’t left a stone unturned and remain committed to this case.

"This is a very difficult case to prove without witnesses. There were no cameras. There's no evidence of what kind of car it was, except the witness that we had that was behind a car thing was a dark-colored car," Walek said. "This case remains active and will remain active until the day we put someone in jail for behind for committing this horrific crime."

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Baltimore said he and his family are begging the driver, or anyone who knows anything about the incident, to come forward.

"How can you live with yourself knowing that you left a 22-year-old kid with his whole life ahead of him just to die in the middle of a road," Baltimore said. "Imagine if that was your child."

Baltimore finished by pleading with the car's driver to come forward, mainly for the sake of his family.

"It would just really give us some type of closure and satisfaction to know that you're not a cold-hearted coward, that you do feel something for your mistake," Baltimore said.

Clearwater Police ask anyone with any information to call 727-562-4242. They emphasize that if you’re involved in a crash, stay at the scene. It’s wrong and against the law to leave, Walek said. 

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