Akron police are searching for a tan Cadillac SRX with tinted windows after the driver struck and killed 38-year-old Jesse McCool and kept going, leaving him with serious injuries that would prove fatal the next evening. The crash happened around 10:22 p.m. on September 26 at South Main Street and East Miller Avenue, where McCool was crossing the street when the southbound vehicle hit him and never stopped.
Investigators originally told the public they were looking for a black SUV based on witness descriptions, but according to the Akron Beacon Journal, further investigation identified the vehicle as a tan Cadillac SRX with an Ohio license plate beginning with the letters KYL. As reported by WKYC, that shift from a vague SUV description to a specific make, model and partial plate came from updated evidence gathered after the crash. Akron Fire Department paramedics rushed McCool to Cleveland Clinic Akron General, but he died there on September 27 at approximately 9:43 p.m. Investigators believe speed may have been a factor in the crash.
How Cameras Rewrote the Suspect Description
The correction from a black SUV to a tan Cadillac appears to trace back to Akron's automated license plate reader network. The city relies on 145 Flock Safety cameras running on a $362,000 annual subscription, capturing not just plate numbers but details like bumper stickers and dents that can help identify a fleeing vehicle, per an Action Network account of the system's capabilities. A Flock camera released an image of the vehicle to help investigators identify it, and the Akron Police Department has asked anyone with information to call its Accident Reconstruction Unit at 330-375-2506.
That same camera network is now facing scrutiny at city hall. Earlier this month, Akron's independent police auditor, Anthony Finnell, formally requested municipal records detailing how the police department deploys, governs, and retains data from the Flock system, according to a report from Signal Akron. The timing places the request just days before the cameras played a role in narrowing the search for McCool's killer.
What the Fleeing Driver Could Face
If police locate and arrest the driver, Ohio law lays out steep consequences for fleeing a fatal crash. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 4549.02, failing to stop after an accident that results in a death is a third-degree felony, one that escalates to a second-degree felony if prosecutors can prove the driver knew someone had died, according to the Ohio General Assembly's statute. A conviction also carries a mandatory Class Five driver's license suspension of six months to three years, and state law bars judges from suspending the first six months of that revocation.
A Second Fatal Pedestrian Crash the Same Night
McCool's death was not the only pedestrian fatality in Akron that night. Around 2 a.m. on September 26, a speeding Chrysler 300 struck and killed 35-year-old Jaymeeson A. Franklin as he crossed West Market Street near South Highland Avenue in Highland Square, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said observed evidence indicated the Chrysler driver may have been impaired, according to the Beacon Journal, and that case remains under investigation.
The Highland Square crash was more destructive than a single collision. Per WNIR 100 FM, the same Chrysler also rear-ended a Buick Encore and slammed into two parked vehicles, sending two other drivers to the hospital with serious injuries. Hoodline previously reported on the crash in that same-night Highland Square wreck. The stretch of West Market Street where Franklin died is the same nightlife corridor where the city installed physical traffic barriers in April to eliminate on-street parking in front of bars and curb dangerous crowd gatherings, a measure Hoodline detailed in earlier Highland Square coverage.
A Pattern Reflected in Statewide Data
Both crashes happened well after dark, which lines up with a broader pattern tracked by the Ohio Department of Transportation. While most pedestrian collisions statewide occur during daylight, the agency's safety data shows 69% of fatal pedestrian crashes happen during dark hours, with fatal incidents concentrating in the fall and winter months. The two Akron deaths also arrive as pedestrian fatalities remain near historic highs nationally; a July 2026 report from the Governors Highway Safety Association projected 6,732 pedestrian deaths across the United States in 2025, following a 72% surge in national pedestrian fatalities between 2009 and 2024.
For now, the search continues for the driver of the tan Cadillac SRX that struck Jesse McCool and drove away. Anyone with information on the vehicle's whereabouts is asked to contact Akron's Accident Reconstruction Unit.
