Maui hit-and-run victim permanently disabled, as suspected driver caught fleeing the state

By Kristen Consillio

Click here for updates on this story

    WAIKAPU, Hawaii (KITV) — It’s been a month since Jillian Croce was dragged more than half a mile by a hit-and-run driver on Maui.

She’s the latest victim suffering lifelong consequences for these crimes.

“My daughter is in almost constant daily pain and that’s already on round-the-clock painkillers,” said her mother Joyce. “She has procedures and surgeries about every other day, which cause her more pain.”

Jillian was riding her moped to work on May 16 when she was blindsided by a driver from behind and caught in the undercarriage of a vehicle police said was driven by Jermaine Mudong.

“We believe that there is a higher power that saved her that day,” Joyce said.

Mudong was booked on first-degree negligent injury, operating a vehicle under the influence and other charges, but later released pending investigation.

“We had witnesses see the whole thing all the way from the beginning to when the police pulled him over in his car,” her father Jerome added. “He should’ve never been released at all.”

Following his release, Jillian’s family said Mudong fled to Guam, where authorities are waiting to extradite him.

“He was released without bail and my daughter’s still imprisoned in the bed,” Joyce said.

And at 32-years-old, Jillian is now permanently disabled.

“Her backside still only has some skin on it — most of the skin and scapula bone are gone,” her mother said. “There was one day where she asked God to take her.. so she’s had highs and lows.”

And like other similar tragedies across the islands, the family is pleading for justice.

“We all collectively want to see the law looked at very meticulously and we want to see more fierce laws,” Joyce said.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.