UF graduate student recovering after being hit by own car

Joshua Roe left his car running to keep it warm on one of the coldest nights in Gainesville this year.

When he returned, he later told his wife, it was gone.

But as he spoke to police on the phone, it appeared again. First, he saw the headlights. Then, it was barreling toward him.

Roe, a 36-year-old UF doctorate student in the department of tourism, recreation and sport management, was delivering a box of household items to someone in need on Jan. 6, said his wife, Elizabeth Roe. He left his car near the intersection of Northeast 41st Place and Northwest Sixth Avenue.

After finding it gone, Roe called police. He was on the phone when he saw his car turn around at the end of the road and head toward him, Elizabeth Roe said.

“He jumps off the roadway to avoid getting hit, but the car gunned the engine and drove off the roadway, following Joshua up the little curve and, in the grass, runs him down,” Elizabeth Roe said. “I guess it just happened so fast.”

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Police arrested three 16-year-olds who were in the car when it crashed into a ditch at the intersection of Northeast 39th Avenue and Northeast 53rd Avenue, according to Alligator archives. Kyyan Jackson, 16, one of the passengers, told police he was riding his bicycle when he saw the car running and took it.

Elizabeth Roe said Jackson made the choice to drive off the road and over her husband. Police charged the minor with a felony — attempted murder. Jackson told police the steering wheel locked up and hitting Roe was an accident.

After hitting Roe, Jackson drove to his friend’s house and picked up Elijah Philman and Brandon Small, police said.

A police officer who had been notified of the hit-and-run saw the car, followed it and watched it speed up toward Northeast 53rd Avenue and crash. The crash caused $5,000 of damage to the car, said GPD spokesperson Ben Tobias.

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Elizabeth Roe talked to her husband after he was hit.

She said his phone shot out from his hand during the crash. A responding officer returned it to him, and he called her.

“It (was) just really emotional at the time for both of us. I’m pretty sure we were both crying,” Elizabeth Roe said. “I could hear the pain in his voice, because he was still on the ground.”

Roe was taken to the intensive care unit at a hospital with severe road rash, three to four broken ribs, a dislocated and fractured elbow, a crushed pelvis and four broken vertebrae, his wife said. He won’t be able to stand for about three months, but he is expected to make a full recovery in about a year, she said.

The couple enjoys camping, hiking and bicycling, Elizabeth Roe said.

“Getting Joshua completely healed is a big priority because being outside means everything to him,” she said. “There’s a lot that was stolen from him, literally and metaphorically, and we’re just trying to get that back.”

Elizabeth Roe said the family is paying for Roe’s medical bills and will need a new car. Joshua Roe’s cousin set up a page through a fundraising website called YouCaring for the couple and their 2-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son.

“Everyone’s been just generous, overwhelming, in a good way,” she said.

Marc Bentley, who studied with Roe at Appalachian State University, described Roe as an outdoorsman and a hardworking person.

“I hope the UF community and the Gainesville community rally around Josh and his young family,” Bentley said. “Josh is too good a man to have this happen to him.”

Elizabeth Roe said what happened that Saturday night won’t affect the family’s plan.

“We’re not going to let this derail what we consider our life plan,” she said. “Raising a family and Joshua’s (doctorate program) is of utmost importance.”

Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.

Joshua Roe