DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit woman is in the hospital after being run over in a violent hit-and-run crash just moments after the suspect broke into her husbands truck.
It happened early Sunday morning on Lansing Street near I-75 in Southwest Detroit. Police say they are investigating and are still searching for the suspect, who allegedly has a distinct feature on his car.
“It's just hard to deal with," the victim's husband Daniel Guy said. "I don't really know how to explain it because usually, we’re the ones people call for help.”
If you ask Guy about his wife Cassandra Melton, he’d quickly tell you how they not only support each other but others as well. They’ve been together 13 years and are raising their two kids while supporting four others, living at their home in Southwest Detroit.
“We had woken up in the morning, headed into the kitchen, had a drink of water, we went back to head to bed and I heard the straps pop on my truck,” Guy said.
It was around 2 a.m. Sunday when Guy says he first heard a thief trying to break into his truck, which was parked on the street. He's a contractor and his tools in the truck had been stolen before, costing him thousands. He ran outside, not about to let it happen again.
“This time, I was able to catch it. But instead of saving my tools, it cost me my wife,” Guy said.
Guy says the masked thief took his backpack, blower and radio and ran back into his Jeep, which was seen on a neighbor's video. Guy tried pulling the suspect out of the car as his wife ran outside to the street.
“When I grabbed him to pull him out, he’s flailing his hands trying to get off of me. He hit the gear, ran her completely over,” Guy said.
Guy says Melton broke her hips, pelvis, femur and shattered an ankle, recently undergoing a 13-hour surgery. As he helps his wife recover, he’s sharing video of the black car, which has a distinct white hood, hoping the person is caught soon.
“We can't really let them get away with it, you know? Stealing is one thing but to run someone down for less than $800 of tools?" Guy said. "Hopefully, this gets out to the world and we can catch them.”
Detroit police are investigating this case. They say anyone with information can contact them anonymously at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
A GoFundMe account has now been launched to help the family while Melton is recovering and out of work.
