More than a year after Rebecca McCarley died in a hit-and-run crash along Wonderwood Drive, Jacksonville police arrested the woman they say was behind the wheel. Crystal Hobson, 33, was taken into custody this week at a hotel on Beach Boulevard on a warrant for leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
McCarley, 35, was killed in the hit-and-run near Mayport, according to News4Jax. Per an arrest warrant cited by First Coast News, McCarley and her boyfriend were standing in a bike lane with their bikes on Wonderwood Drive on October 5, 2025, when a Chevrolet Malibu veered over and struck her. McCarley’s grandfather told WOKV the crash happened on the Wonderwood Expressway near the intersection of A1A, also known as the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, around 7 p.m. that Sunday.
Accounts of exactly what McCarley was doing at the moment of impact differ. News4Jax reported she was riding her bicycle along Wonderwood Drive near A1A, while WOKV reported it was not yet known whether she was on her bike or standing beside it when the driver hit her. McCarley’s family told News4Jax that her friend had pulled off onto the sidewalk to fix his wagon while she stayed in the bike lane.
Driver Allegedly Circled Back Before Fleeing
According to the boyfriend’s account to police, as relayed by First Coast News, the driver kept going after striking McCarley, then made a U-turn and briefly returned to the scene before leaving again. The boyfriend later identified Crystal Hobson to police as the driver, per First Coast News. Investigators say the car allegedly involved in the crash had damage to its passenger-side hood, headlight and windshield, according to the arrest warrant.
McCarley was rushed to the hospital after the crash. Her family told News4Jax she was taken to Memorial Hospital, removed from life support on a Monday, and died early the next morning, less than two days after she was struck. An October report from the same outlet said investigators had identified a suspect and vehicle connected to the crash at that time, though no arrests had been made.
Arrest Comes More Than a Year Later
Hobson was arrested Tuesday, November 3, and is scheduled to be arraigned later this month, First Coast News reports. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office provided the photo used to identify her. The article was authored by Kiley Miller for First Coast News.
Florida law requires drivers involved in a crash that results in death to stop and remain at the scene. Under Florida Statute § 316.027, a willful violation is charged as a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum four-year prison term, and a driver’s license must be revoked for at least three years upon conviction.
A Stretch of Road With a History
McCarley’s death wasn’t the only bicycling fatality near that stretch of road. A report from Action News Jax, carried by Yahoo News, said city records showed three other people had been killed while biking near the intersection since 2020, and characterized her death as at least the 10th hit-and-run fatality in Duval County that year. The same report noted that Jacksonville’s Vision Zero Action Plan safety-project list showed no project listed at or near the crash intersection.
A separate, earlier crash underscores the corridor’s danger: in 2020, News4Jax reported that a bicyclist was struck and killed while riding on A1A in Mayport. Jacksonville police said that bicyclist was traveling north near Wonderwood Drive when a truck traveling the same direction hit them — though in that case, the truck driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators, a contrast to the hit-and-run that claimed McCarley’s life.
