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GRAPHIC VIDEO WARNING: Man hit by car, gets up and calls police

Posted at 10:53 AM, Mar 13, 2012
and last updated 2012-03-13 18:38:18-04

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Police released video of a man being hit by a car, hoping the video would generate clues to catch a hit and run driver.

Richmond Police said the 44-year-old man was hit when he stopped to pick something up while crossing Hull and 12th Street Saturday evening around 7:30 p.m. The video shows the man being thrown over the top of the vehicle after impact. [CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO]

The man, who police said suffered minor injuries, was able to get up and call police after the incident. The driver, police said, drove off without stopping.

"When the car hit him, he was in shock. He couldn't move," a man who witnessed the incident, and wishes to remain anonymous, told CBS 6 News' Sandra Jones. "I walked over to him and asked him was he alright? And he kept on saying he... [but] he was bleeding from the head and from his ear."

The man who witnessed what happened, works at the Max Market, the convenience store the vicitm had just left.

"I said, 'you need to go to the hospital.' He said, 'no, I don't want to go anywhere.'"

However, by that time, police and emergency vehicles had arrived to the accident scene.

Richmond Police spokesperson Gene Lepley said he is hopeful someone saw something that will lead them to the hit-and-run driver.

"What we would like to do is talk to that driver," said Lepley. "We believe from eyewitness reports that as the car pulls out of frame where we can't see it on surveillance video that the driver in fact stopped and was one of the people who walked back over to see if that pedestrian is ok."

On the other hand, Lepley said the driver did leave the scene of the accident.

"If you're involved in a situation like this, you need to wait for police to arrive otherwise you can be accused of leaving the scene of an accident," said Lepley.  "And in this case, felony hit-and-run because of the injury."

And according to the store employee, this is the third hit-and-run incident for the victim.

"Each time he comes in with a crutch or something [and] 'I'm like what happened to you?'  He said, 'I got hit.'  God has been on his side," said the store clerk.

The store employee said the victim wants to find the driver, too.  He said the man has a broken arm and some fractured ribs from the accident.

Police believe the driver was travelling in a black Mustang, Honda or Subaru and may have a cracked windshield.

Anyone with information about this hit and run is asked to call Richmond Police Sgt. John Bowman at (804) 646-1369 or Crime Stoppers at 780-1000.