Hit and Run

Last Friday I was operating on a slightly different schedule than usual, so of course something crazy had to happen.  Usually, JBS goes with me and we swing thru McDonalds and get my Coke before I drop him at school.  That Friday, he didn't want to go to McDonalds so I dropped him a little bit early and headed to the bank.  I passed McDonalds and was in the left turn lane to go into the shopping center where my bank was.  I saw a car coming my direction, he was drinking out of a cup and he never put the cup down.  I realized he was not going to put that cup down and he was heading right for me so I laid on the horn.  No response.  I am pretty sure he didn't know he was going to hit me until he actually hit me.  And it was hard and loud.  He started about my shoulder and went all the way down the side of my car, ending up directly behind me, facing the wrong way, in the turn lane.  He was on the wrong side of a concrete median, facing the wrong way in traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road.  I was in total shock and sat there for a second.  John had stayed home from work that day, so I quickly dialed him to say that someone just hit me and to come quick.  As I was hanging up with John, I looked in my rear view mirror and the guy was driving away....across 2 lanes of traffic into a QT where he cut through and presumably went out the neighborhood.  I called 911 and stayed in the middle of a very busy intersection at 8:15am.  People were everywhere and there had to have been at least 20 people who witnessed the wreck directly.  Not one person stopped.  Not one person tried to get his tag number or stop him, or chase him.  No one even stopped to see if I was OK.  I was in total disbelief.

The police arrived very quickly and were very kind.  I was shaken up and as they asked me what kind of car it was, I had no idea.  I saw a car coming at me, I was bracing for a head on collision.  I wasn't looking to see what kind of car it was.  As I looked back when he was driving off, I caught the first 3 digits of his license plate, I think.  "555" and I thought it was a silver smaller SUV.  All this said, it has been snowy for weeks and all our cars are dirty, so the color could be gray, silver or white and the license plate was far away and dirty.  When the cops looked up 555 they said it was the most common prefix on Kansas plates.  Great.  Without the make and model of the car, we really couldn't narrow it down.

The cops spoke to QT and after some back and forth it was determined that their cameras were not working that morning.  If they had been, they would have given us footage of the wreck and the escape with a license plate.  So frustrating.

I had the police's email and card and eventually emailed and asked him if I could stake out again in the morning to see if I could see him on his morning routine again.  He gave me his blessing and said he could work with it if I found the right car.  To no avail.  It was fruitless.

I kept having a nagging feeling that this could not be it.  With all the technology around and on such a busy street. There was someone or more that SAW THIS.  The information was out there.  Yesterday (Tuesday)  I decided to ask another gas station half a block away if their cameras saw any of the street.  I could at least pick out the car right before the accident.  When I walked in and told the girl working that I was involved in a hit and run on Friday, she interrupted me and said, "You're the one! I was working and saw it"  I couldn't believe it.  She said she didn't see the car, but that a man came in right after the accident and told her that if anyone asked it was a white Acura!  Holy smokes!    We just got the Make and I know it was a small SUV....so in the MDX range.  This was huge.

When I went to my car to email my police officer, I looked across the street to see the bank...the one I was headed to.  The position of their cameras on the drive thru would be just perfect to catch the car driving before the accident. So, I headed to the bank and asked how to get their footage.

I sent all the information to my police officer and I also emailed US BANK and asked for their camera footage. The auto response on the bank footage was 7-10 working days.  Ugh.  So, now we sit and wait.  That said, since we know the make and possible model of the vehicle, we can also cross reference those first 3 digits of the license plate with the DMV.  We might just be getting there, the creep.  I'm pretty sure if he ran from me, he's running from other things.  I am hopeful this story ends with the good guy on top!

Miss These Days...