At the scene, police “found a Lime Scooter broken in half up against the curb” almost 500 feet from Stoneking, however no other debris was found.
Stoneking left work on the scooter in east Dallas around 2:30 a.m. Kenneth Moore, a friend of Stoneking, said he received a call from Jacoby telling him he had “fallen and hurt his foot”. Moore called a Lyft for his friend but when the driver arrived at the intersection of South Munger Blvd. and Terry Street about 4 a.m. Sunday morning, he found Stoneking unresponsive and alerted authorities.
Stoneking was transported to Baylor University Medical Center where he was placed on life support. Sadly, Stoneking was pronounced deceased at 12:41 p.m. on Sunday.
Police on the scene reported that they “observed scrapes and bruising to the injured person’s hands and lower extremities however, the cause of death is undetermined.
Police are not investigating the accident as a hit-and-run because the only debris they found on the scene belonged to the scooter but Jack Stoneking, Jacoby’s father, believes his son was hit by a driver. He states “Somebody had to see something.” “The damage that was done to his body, that’s not a scooter accident.”
Lime spokeswoman, Mary Caroline Pruitt, told the Dallas Morning News the company was “deeply saddened” to hear about Jacoby’s death and “Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and loved ones,”. A written statement from lime said “We are awaiting the results of the investigation, and we will cooperate fully with the authorities.”
A Go-Fund-Me has been set up to help Jacoby’s family with final expenses. The page states of Jacoby,
“His glowing nature was a beacon of love and joy for his family and friends. He was the most caring man anyone could ever meet. A pet-loving, reptile enthusiast, he cared for many of his favorite cold-blooded creatures, and a pack of canine pals. He will be overwhelmingly missed by all that knew him.”
The page also notes that Jacoby’s organs will be donated.
Electric scooters, while a fun and convenient way to travel short distances, can be very dangerous, especially when sharing the road with other automobiles. Being exposed with little safety features leaves scooter riders extremely susceptible to serious injury.
The newness of wide spread electric scooter use in Dallas makes for uncharted territory when it comes to dealing with accidents. In July, Jeff Rasanaky, a personal injury attorney at Rasansky Law Firm in Dallas, spoke to WFAA 8 about his concerns regarding electric scooter accidents. “I think we’re going to see a whole host of issues that arise that nobody’s even thought about. About who’s going to cover what types of accidents.”, Jeff says.
