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What hidden car camera reveals about texting teen drivers

Posted at 9:39 AM, May 15, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-16 00:30:36-04

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - A texting driver changed Patty Perutelli's life forever. The wife and mother lost her husband two years ago when he was hit by a car on Route 29 in Amherst County.

"I know there's nothing I could have done to change that day," she said about the day her husband died.

Patty Perutelli grieves at her husband's grave.

Patty Perutelli grieves at her husband's grave.

Fred Perutelli stopped on Route 29 after some furniture he was hauling fell off his truck. State Trooper Dan Wilson saw Perutelli and stopped to help.

"I pulled my car into the right hand lane of the straight roadway and got out and began to help this guy who lost his load," Trooper Wilson recalled. Wilson parked his patrol car to block the lane.

Minutes later, they heard the sound of screeching tires.

"I could see the car was sideways. [It was] obviously too fast for me to get away," Trooper Wilson said. "I knew I was going to get hit. I knew there was nothing I could do to get away from it."

The crash scene on Route 29

The crash scene on Route 29

Wilson said he ran to Perutelli to pull him out of harm's way.

"My left hand just got to his elbow and I can remember the look on his face, 'why are you touching me?' He had no clue what was about to hit him," Trooper Wilson recalled.

Both men were hit.

"I knew I was going to die," Trooper Wilson said. "I handed my ring to Trooper Bar and [told him to] tell my wife I'm sorry but I wasn't going to make it home."

But Trooper Wilson did survive. Fred Perutelli did not.

"I fell to my knees," Patty Perutelli recalled. "I couldn't believe this had happened. I don't remember anything else other than calling my boys and telling them they had to come home."