Sam Amico
One car dealership near Denver got to experience something for the first time — a guy who said he didn’t want to test drive a car, then managed to drive off in it anyway.
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Actually, it was a white Wrangler jeep, and when the suspect told the salesman he wanted to hear the engine, the salesman closed the hood so that engine could be revved.
Big mistake.
The suspect got behind the wheel of the vehicle as the hood was being closed … and took off. Scary surveillance footage showed the salesman riding on the hood before being thrown off the vehicle and getting run over.
Another employee rushed out to help as the salesman was lying in the street. He reportedly suffered some broken bones but is expected to make a full recovery.
“It was very close. Had he fallen any further, he could have lost his life,” Cherry Creek Automotive owner Justin Franks told FOX31. “He’s been in the ICU and transitioned today, but he had lots of broken bones through his midsection. And mentally he’s doing great and has a long road to recovery. I was able to speak with him that night. I spent a lot of time with him and his wife at the hospital, and he had an amazing attitude.”
The thief remains at large.
“I don’t think he knows the extent of the damage or if he took my employee’s life,” Franks said of the thief. “He just drove away with no sense of humanity at all. We just want to find this individual and hope that somebody can help the Denver Police Department track him down.”
Denver Crime Stoppers released images of the suspect. Per FOX31, the salesman described the suspect as a “white or Hispanic man around 6 feet tall with a heavier build. He’s bald and has a tattoo on the back of his neck.”
