Who Hit Danny Berenberg?: Whose phone number called 911 during the time frame of the hit-and-run

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Whose phone number called 911 during the time frame of the hit-and-run

Police say that around the same time of the hit-and-run, someone called 911, but hung up before speaking. They called from 904-627-9702. Who owned this number, which was then evidently disconnected? Were they calling to report the accident? Were they, perhaps, a witness?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Because I am a licensed p.i., I ran this number through my databases. Unfortunately, no name came up. The only thing I can tell you is that the provider is Nextel and the zip code is 32202. The police have the capabilities to figure out who this number belongs to- if they choose to exercise that option.; May 7, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Suzanne Yack said...: Thanks, Susan, we think you're right that the police could get the owner, and perhaps they don't feel like spending the money to do an extensive lookup. I really appreciate that you took an interest and maybe the information you located will be the exact piece to help to solve this case. You're a great citizen.; May 8, 2008 at 7:47 AM
Anonymous said...: As I stated in a previous comment, I was involved in a hit & run and actually had the license tag, although the dispatcher wrote it down incorrectly. The detective was clearly not interested in the case and did the sloppiest investigation I have ever seen. I wrote a strident letter to Bruce Thomason, Chief of Police, but nothing happened. I view the Jacksonville Beach Police Department as incompetent and ill-trained- with no intent of changing.

I don't know how you acquired that phone number or where it originated, but it probably should be pursued.; May 11, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Unknown said...: Danny
Trying to contact you, I find I no longer have your email address in my contact list. I am in Minnesota for the SSM 150th and want to see you. PHil Trout says you are coming to MN this weekend.

Please reply

ruthkmeyer@yahoo.com; June 5, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Anonymous said...: To see where she got that information, all you have to do is search the phone number under Google and it will tell you that it is a Nextel phone number. The police could easily track that phone to its owner, if they cared.; June 23, 2008 at 3:23 AM
TokenGimp said...: I was looking at an auto for sale on Ebay #300923174881 and then looked at the Auto Check records. That's when I recalled the hit & run of Danny Berenberg, because of the town, the minor vehicle damage, but then it was sent to Georgia. However the year was wrong.

Has anyone ever been charged?

If I recall the name of one woman came up but her alibi was enough to out fox Jacksonville's "finest". I often think of Danny and the Kaiser Roll as it was my first wheelchair race in 1983 and Grandma's Marathon was my last race seven years ago this weekend after fracturing my right femur. Recently diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis my wheelchair racing may be more finished than I hoped.
Prayers continue for Danny's cause.
PEACE; June 23, 2013 at 5:16 AM

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Who is the perpetrator?

The hit-and-run happened about 8:30 p.m., April 4 during the Blues Festival. Driver: late 20s or early 30s,

somewhat heavy set, alone in a light or white car resembling a 2001 Hyundai. Something decorative hung from her rear-view mirror.

She was traveling East to West on 6th Avenue North between First & Second Street. She may have been talking on her cell phone. When she fled the scene, she turned right on Second Street, heading in a northerly direction.

She may have been in the area for the Blues Festival.

It was a dark and rainy night...

By Susan D. Brandenburg

It was a dark and rainy night … that somewhat clichéd phrase sounds like the beginning of a fictional horror story, but unfortunately this is a hit and run horror story that is all too real for too many citizens of the First Coast.

“I was flying through the air and the last thing I remember thinking was ‘I’m dead,” recalls Danny Berenberg of Ponte Vedra Beach. It wasn’t until he woke up in excruciating pain at Beaches Baptist Hospital nearly two days later that Berenberg, 63, learned more about the hit and run accident that occurred around 8:30 p.m. on April 4 as he and his houseguest from Canada, Cosmo Costa, crossed a rain-drenched street in Jacksonville Beach.

“Cosmo is still having nightmares about the accident,” said Berenberg, whose friend described in detail the sequence of events that happened on the same day as the Springing the Blues Festival brought crowds of people to the beach.

When Berenberg was hit on 6th Avenue North, between 1st Street and Second Street next to Dolphin Depot, the driver of the car that hit him stopped and got out of her car. Peering at her through the rain, it appeared to Costa that she had a cell phone in her hand.

The Canadian yelled to the driver to call 911, asking her to please come over and hold the umbrella over his friend while he ran to tell their wives about the accident. He crouched next to Berenberg and looked up just in time to see the driver jumping back in her car and driving away. Costa chased after her and got a partial license number before returning to his friend.

Within minutes, several other people had gathered around Berenberg. Forrest Kirk, Manager of Dolphin Depot, called 911, while Dolphin Depot owner, Steve Rider, attempted also to chase down the hit and run car, but lost it as it turned on 2nd Street. “We just tried to keep Danny still until emergency rescue got here,” said Kirk. “Crazy things happen on this corner all the time during these festivals.”

Witnesses described the driver, probably in her late 20’s or early 30’s, as somewhat heavy-set, with light brown or dark blonde hair, driving what appeared to be a 2001 white Hyundai automobile. The vehicle had blotchy, sun-scaled paint. Something decorative hung from the rear-view mirror.

“I’ve got a 22 year old daughter,” said Berenberg. “She could have been driving in the rain at night and accidentally hit someone. It could happen to anyone. I wouldn’t have prosecuted this woman if she had been one of the ten people who came to my aid that night when I was bleeding in the street.”

Berenberg noted “the driver went from accident victim to criminal only when she chose to run.” And choosing to run rather than take responsibility for their actions is, unfortunately, becoming the norm for many local drivers.

According to JSO Senior Public Information Officer Ken Jefferson, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office investigated 202 hit and run accidents in 2007, and there were 46 hit and run accidents reported from January through April of 2008.

And, in Jacksonville Beach, the number of hit and run accidents has reached epidemic proportions, with 274 hit and runs investigated in 2007, and a whopping 81 hit and run accidents so far in 2008.

“A lot of those listed as hit and run accidents are little fender benders, but all of them become criminal cases when someone flees the scene,” noted Jacksonville Beach Police Vehicular Homicide Detective David Keen, who is currently investigating the Berenberg hit and run case.

“When you hear the actual numbers of hit and runs just in Jacksonville Beach, it really brings it home that law enforcement can’t possibly do it all,” said Berenberg. “This is a matter of every person taking individual responsibility to do the right thing.”

For Berenberg, a highly respected fundraiser and philanthropist, doing the right thing has been a life-long habit, with the exception of a hit and run accident that occurred less then two years ago, when he shirked his duty as a good citizen.

“We were driving on A1A on December 6, 2006, and all I can remember is the loud rumble of a “souped-up” truck next to us and then, BAM!” recalled Berenberg’s wife, Robin. “Danny’s driver’s side window was broken, glass was flying everywhere and we were landing in the culvert.”

Transported by ambulance to Beaches Baptist Emergency Room, treated for minor injuries and released, the Berenbergs never discovered the identity of the driver of the truck that hit them.

“We were O.K. Insurance covered the medical expenses and the damages. We just decided to put it behind us, but it never really went away,” said Robin, who still cringes when she hears the rumble of a truck.

“The problem won’t go away unless someone takes a stand,” said Danny Berenberg. Currently unable to physically stand due to extensive hip and knee injuries resulting from the April 4th hit and run, Berenberg has become a wheelchair warrior for positive change.

“I’m not out to get anyone,” he said. “I hope the woman who hit me comes forward and accepts responsibility, but she’s superfluous, really. The main point is that each of us must take responsibility for our own actions and care enough to intervene on behalf of our fellow man, too. It’s what good citizens do.”

In line with that strong statement and altruistic philosophy, Berenberg has offered a $1,000 reward for the person who offers information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailant, but there’s a catch. The reward will be made in the form of a donation to that good citizen’s charity of choice. The fund has risen to over $3,000.

Berenberg says he doesn’t believe in rewarding someone for doing what they should have done anyway.

“Instead, I want to acknowledge their heroism by helping their cause,” he said. “In my mind, the person who comes forward will be as much a hero as the ten people who came to my aid on a rainy night in Jacksonville Beach.

"There were ten heroes that night and there was one coward: The hit and run driver,” he said.

Who Hit Danny Berenberg?

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Whose phone number called 911 during the time frame of the hit-and-run

6 comments:

Donate to the Reward Fund

Who's investigating?

Who is the perpetrator?

News stories

It was a dark and rainy night...

Article in St. Augustine Record

Have you been affected by a hit-and-run crime in Duval County?

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

Hyundai pic

Map of Hit-and-Run location

Danny Berenberg, back in the day

Thanks.