MIAMI -- Family and friends of a man who remains hospitalized in critical condition three weeks after being the victim of a hit-and-run believe he was targeted because he was gay.

Tommy Davis, 31, has been hooked up to a ventilator in the ICU at Broward General Medical Center since Sept. 18. He has a lacerated liver, broken leg, bruised kidney and, perhaps most devastating, a head injury.

"He's a wonderful kid with a bright future," said his mother, Sue Davis, who has been by his bedside every day since he was admitted. "You know, I just don't understand."

Marcus Hopkins thinks he does. He was there that night outside Ramrod, a popular bar primarily for gay men where Davis works as a bartender.

It was shortly after 10 p.m. Sept. 18 when Davis was crossing Northeast Fourth Avenue to return to work. Hopkins said Davis got halfway into the right lane when Davis, he and another friend heard an engine rev.

Hopkins said Davis ran, but before he could get away, the car swerved onto the sidewalk and hit him.

"When he hit the windshield, he bounced off the car and hit the dirt," said Hopkins.

The driver of the car then swerved back onto the road and kept going. Hopkins believes the incident might have been a hate crime.

"It doesn't matter if they're straight, gay, transgender, lesbian, whatever. It shouldn't matter," said Hopkins. "How can you do that to another human being?"

Fort Lauderdale police are looking for a white four-door sedan, possibly a Toyota, with right front-side damage. Anyone with information is asked to call police.

"It's just unbelievable," said Davis' mother. "I don't know how I'm getting through this."

The bar where Davis works planned to hold a fundraiser Wednesday to help pay for some of Davis' medical expenses.