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…