VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — “A disregard for human life”: That how Melissa May sums up what happened to her and her daughter Friday evening in the parking lot of Strawbridge Commons off General Booth Boulevard.
They were heading to Jose Tequilas when a car came around and struck their car — not once, but twice. She doesn’t understand how somebody could do that.
They were in May’s Chevrolet SUV. The first impact caused damage to the driver’s side front corner and jammed the driver’s door.
“I could not open this door and I thought he was actually getting out to help us to see what happened,” May said.
But instead of trading information, the other driver decided to trade some more paint — while May was using both feet to try to kick open the driver’s door that wouldn’t budge.
“I’m turned in an awkward position trying to get my door open and that’s when he stepped on the gas and hit us a second time. You could hear him flooring his gas and just plowing through.”
Her SUV had scratches along the side where it was sideswiped.
The manager at Whiskey River Tattoo was about 50 feet away on her break when it happened.
“I was very very shocked that in a crowd of people in the middle of the day somebody just kept driving,” said Stacey Thiel. “I thought maybe he was pulling to a safe spot and then he went real fast and drove away.”
May wasn’t able to get out of her car right away because of the jammed door, so she has only a rough description of the other driver. “An older gentleman maybe in his 50s, he did have a cap on and sunglasses, tan with no beard.”
She says he was driving a dark SUV, possibly Ford, Chrysler or a Jeep Cherokee.
May says her daughter was okay but May is feeling some pain in her neck and shoulder.
She’s hoping police can find the driver before he finds more trouble.
“If he did this once and gets away with it, who’s to say he won’t do it again and if he did it again he could harm somebody seriously or kill somebody.”
10 On Your Side checked the area for surveillance cameras, it doesn’t seem there really are any. If you anything about what happened you can contact Virginia Beach Police or call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
