Man's Body Found Crushed in Dallas Alley

Dallas Police are trying to find the driver who ran over a man and left him to die.

Dallas Fire-Rescue teams found the man sleeping in an alley off Fitzhugh and Capital around 9 p.m. Thursday night. Investigators say, by Friday morning, he had been crushed to death.

Investigators are checking for surveillance video in the area for any evidence what kind of larger vehicle could have crushed a man. Police say the driver never stopped to help.

“They have to be punished, because if you hurt somebody, if you run them over you should've stopped,” says neighbor Pedro Montoya.

Montoya wants justice for the man left to die in the alley right next to his house.  Montoya believes he knows the victim, who often slept there.

“A nice guy.  Each time he laid down, he put half of his body on the road.  We take care of him, we do as much as we can,” Montoya says.

Police say when Dallas Fire Rescue first checked on the man, he was alive.

“The person was okay, asleep in the alley,” says Dallas Police Sgt. Danny Robinson.

Fire Department spokesman, Jason Evans, tells NBC5 that the man wasn't hurt, and says there's not much more rescuers can do than suggest the man get up and move.

When crews got called out to the same spot, ten hours later, the man had life threatening injuries.  Police say he died at the hospital.

“We know when they got there the second time, he was in pretty bad shape and run over.  It appears to be by a very heavy vehicle,” says Sgt. Robinson.

Officers say the alley is dark and it's possible a driver didn't see him until it was too late.  Still, investigators believe the driver would have felt the impact of running over the man.

Sgt. Robinson says maybe the driver could have saved the victim’s life by calling for help right away.

“I know it would be frightening, but if personnel get here soon enough, we never know what they may be able to do to assist someone," Robinson said.

Right now, police are taking the man's fingerprints at the hospital and are trying to figure out who he is. He wasn't carrying identification.

NBC 5's Greg Janda contributed to an earlier edition of this story.