{"id":458017,"date":"2026-10-06T14:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458017\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T14:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:00:09","slug":"fort-worth-hit-and-run-seriously-injures-veteran-as-police-search-nbc-5-dallas-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/458017\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth hit-and-run seriously injures veteran as police search \u2013 NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A North Texas military veteran who survived a deadly attack on U.S. forces during an overseas deployment is now facing months of recovery after a hit-and-run crash at home that left him seriously injured.<\/p>\n<p>Fort Worth police are asking for the public&#8217;s help identifying the driver accused of striking 29-year-old Kris Rodriguez while he was riding his motorcycle on Interstate 35W near Northside Drive on Sept. 27 and then fleeing the scene.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators are searching for a gray or light-colored four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota, that may have damage to its front end or passenger side.<\/p>\n<p>Rodriguez remains hospitalized with multiple serious injuries.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Kristopher has a broken clavicle, which punctured his lung,&#8221; his mother Sylvia Amos told NBC 5. &#8220;He has broken ribs, a broken pelvis. He has a bladder injury, which got a ruptured bladder.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His family says the crash came just weeks after the Army National Guard soldier returned home from a deployment to the Middle East. During that deployment, Rodriguez was stationed in Kuwait and Qatar and survived a deadly January 2024 drone attack on an American base in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He literally contacted my wife during the attack and told her, &#8216;I love you,'&#8221; said Chris Amos, Rodriguez&#8217;s father. <\/p>\n<p>His mother remembers that call vividly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t tell me why,&#8221; Sylvia said. &#8220;He just said, &#8216;Mama, I wanted to call you and tell you that I love you.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After returning home, Rodriguez was looking forward to a fresh start. Family members say he had recently secured a new job, moved into a new home in Fort Worth, and purchased a motorcycle. That excitement quickly turned to devastation.<\/p>\n<p>Police say Rodriguez was riding on I-35W near the Yucca Avenue exit around 9:30 p.m. when the collision happened.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our assumption is that the driver of the vehicle just didn&#8217;t see that Kris was there or whatever the case may be and shot straight over to try to make the exit and impacted my son,&#8221; Chris said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kris.png\" loading=\"lazy\"   alt=\"The crash left Rodriguez with extensive injuries, including a broken clavicle, broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken pelvis and a ruptured bladder.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Chris &amp; Sylvia AmosCourtesy of Chris &amp; Sylvia Amos<\/p>\n<p>The crash left Rodriguez with extensive injuries, including a broken clavicle, broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken pelvis and a ruptured bladder.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors have performed surgeries for Rodriguez&#8217;s severe injuries and are continuing treatment as he begins what his family says will be a long and difficult recovery.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Kristopher is physically not doing too good, but also emotionally,&#8221; Sylvia said. &#8220;He&#8217;s just kind of in a dark space right now. He really needs his family.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The family, who live in the Austin area, says they have been traveling back and forth to be with Rodriguez while also facing mounting medical expenses and transportation costs. They&#8217;re hoping for a medical transport so that he can be closer to his parents.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Medical costs are starting to pile up now, and the hospital&#8217;s unable to get us transportation to Austin,&#8221; Sylvia said. &#8220;Kristopher is just completely devastated. His world has been turned upside down, not only physically, but financially.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Nearly two weeks after the crash, Rodriguez&#8217;s parents worry the investigation has stalled. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1CrCsq33BW\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">They and the police have turned to social media<\/a> to encourage anyone with information to come forward.<\/p>\n<p>They also have a message for the driver who left the scene.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is somebody that you&#8217;ve impacted. You&#8217;ve completely changed the direction of their life,&#8221; Chris said. &#8220;At least have a backbone and stop and offer aid. Don&#8217;t tuck your tail and run.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For now, Rodriguez&#8217;s family remains focused on his recovery and finding the person responsible.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank God he&#8217;s alive,&#8221; Sylvia Amos said. &#8220;But he is going through a living hell right now. We&#8217;re just trying to get him the help that he needs and be there as much as we possibly can.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Anyone with information about the crash or the vehicle involved is asked to contact Fort Worth police.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/fwpd-gfx.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   alt=\" \"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFWPD FacebookFWPD Facebook<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Texas military veteran who survived a deadly attack on U.S. forces during an overseas deployment is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-458017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}