Surveillance Tape Shows Hit-And-Run Accident That Nearly Kills Miami Woman
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- New surveillance tape shows an SUV that nearly took the life of a 58-year-old woman on Tuesday night as she was crossing a busy street.
"If he has just a little conscience he will turn himself in," said the victim's husband, David Nelson Jr. during a family plea with Miami Police.
Nelson told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that he and his wife of four years, Yvette Annette Wilson Hughes, were returning to their apartment after a doctor's appointment and he had just crossed N.W. 79th St. at 7:41 p.m. ahead of his wife. They had just gotten off a bus.
"I didn't see the impact from the first car but I heard a scream and I looked back and I saw a car dragging my wife," he said.
CLICK HERE To Watch Peter D'Oench's Report
His wife had been struck first by a silver Hyundai SUV that police was a four-door, 2002-2005 model with a spare tire on it and that now has front-end damage to the right side and possible damage to the windshield.
Police said the driver of the Hyundai stayed on the scene for 90 seconds and then took off. They said the driver of the second car stayed on the scene.
"Why he left the scene I do not know," said Nelson. "I know that my wife is in a lot of pain. She has a son and four grandkids. I ask anyone who is out there who knows anything about who hit her to please come forward.
"I ask the person who hit her to consider this, if he has family, what would he do if someone hit someone he loved. If he has a conscience he will turn himself in. What went through my mind was fear. I never had something like this happen to a loved one before.
"My wife is going through a lot but through God's grace she is going to make it," he said. "I know a female doctor stopped by at the scene to help her and I say thank you to her."
Nelson said his wife has facial injuries, a ruptured lung and a fractured pelvis.
"She is really not speaking but she is showing improvement," he said.
Miami Police Detective Joseph Kennedy said, "This vehicle we are looking for also has no tints on the windows and the driver is a Haitian male or an African-American male in his 50s who was wearing glasses and had a mid size build to a heavy built. He also had a female with him and they were well dressed."
"There was no reason for the driver to leave the scene. If this person hadn't left the scene, he would not have been considered at fault. She was wearing a black dress and she was not in the crosswalk as she should have been.
"That driver just sat in his car for about a minute and a half. Then he just gassed it and went off. Now he can be charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries. And if, God forbid, that woman does not make it, the charges could be much worse," Kennedy added.
Police say anyone with information about this case should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
