(Credit: SLC Police, YouTube)
SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake Police are trying to track down an alleged hit and run driver that has been evading them for weeks. They hope a newly released dash-cam video will convince other witnesses or the driver to come forward.
The accident happened at the intersection of 900 South and West Temple. Uber driver Spencer Johnson says the suspect car was roughly 100 yards in front of him when the car hit the pedestrian.
Johnson says, “I saw him swerve, a little bit, then some debris. At first, I thought it was maybe some garbage, or something, in the road. As I got closer, I saw there was a person there.”
In the dash-cam video, you can see the victim stand up immediately after being hit. Johnson believes this was because the victim was in shock. However, the man kneels back down after realizing how badly he was hurt.
“I asked if he was OK and he said ‘no.’ There were some other people that saw it and they came and helped,” Johnson says.
The passers-by helped the victim get out of the road and he was treated for his injuries on scene. That man declined to go to the hospital, which surprised Johnson. He says the impact of the crash was severe enough to break pieces of plastic off the car’s front bumper.
“In this case, we’ve got to think there was some front-end damage on that vehicle, at least to a minor degree,” according to Salt Lake Police Sergeant Keith Horrocks.
Investigators believe the suspect knew he hit something, although they might not have known they hit a person. Horrocks says they want to speak with the driver to get their side of the story.
“There might be some indication the driver was changing lanes just prior to the collision happening with the pedestrian. So, they may have been checking a blind spot, or something,” he says.
In this case, the light was red for the pedestrian. However, even if a driver is not at fault for the crash, state law requires they stop and help. Horrocks says charges could be enhanced since the victim was injured.