The search is on for a driver involved in a hit and run in Deep Ellum on the Fourth of July.
He is accused of pinning a woman between two cars and dragging her before getting away.
The victim shared her story from her hospital bed on Thursday.
Charity Marie asked NBC 5 not to use her last night for this report, out of concern for her safety.
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She can't understand why a night out, celebrating the Fourth of July nearly cost her, her life.
“I'm my kids' only parent and it was terrifying to think that I wouldn't be there anymore,” she said. “Because they still need me. I'm not ready to go.”
Police say she is the victim of a hit and run.
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Surveillance video obtained by NBC 5 shows the incident in an alley along the 2800 block of July Alley.
In the video, a gray Jeep Wrangler is seen driving fast down the alleyway just before 3:00 AM.
The driver crashes into a parked motorcycle, puts his vehicle in reverse, and hits a car where Charity and friends were standing.
“The people whose vehicle he hit were trying to get him to get out of the vehicle to do insurance and handle the situation,” she recalled. “Rather than get out or even roll down his window, he took off forward and I was in the way.”
Video shows Charity approaching the vehicle and is pinned and dragged between the suspect’s Jeep and the parked car that had been hit.
“Once I was at the end of the parked car, I fell on the ground and he ran me over and took off down the street,” she said.
Police say another pedestrian was also hit but was not seriously injured like Charity.
“My pelvis is broken in four places, so we’re re-learning how to walk,” she said. “I have a pretty significant hematoma in my right arm.”
Charity now worries whether she’ll be able to return to work soon, as a master hairstylist.
Friends, customers, and colleagues at her Rockwall salon have rallied, launching a GoFundMe account to help.
“We’re just sad that we don’t have her in the salon,” said hairstylist Mikayla Hookings. “She’s really the heart and soul of our team.”
Charity is also the heart of her family. She has three teenaged kids, including a son who will leave for the Marine Corps this month.
“I was worried about missing that and not being there for him for that,” she said.
This survivor hopes someone recognizes the suspect’s vehicle: matte gray in color, with a small lift, dark window tint, and large tires. She says witnesses told police the driver had shoulder-length dreadlocks. Witnesses also caught the suspect’s license plate number, but there’s a problem.
“The license plate that was on the Jeep is registered to a Toyota Corolla,” she said.
Charity would like to have one question answered by the driver who took off.
“Why would you not stop? I don’t understand how somebody could run a person over and not stop,” she said. “He could’ve taken a mother away from her children.”
Anyone with information about this hit and run is urged to call the Dallas Police Department.
The case numbers are 118126-2021 and 118127-2021.
Click here for the GoFundMe account.
