UPDATE: Police say a tip led them to the suspect in this case and he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced 30 days in jail.
Grosse Pointe police are looking for help identifying a driver in a hit and run. It happened in August in the parking lot of Beaumont Hospital.
The victim is now speaking exclusively to 7 Action News reporter Syma Chowdhry. She says this is the second hit and run affecting her family.
Canica Currie takes us back to what happened to her in the parking lot of Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe on the evening on Aug. 27. She was picking up her daughter after having a baby.
What was supposed to be a joyous time came to a crashing halt when she was hit by a driver.
“He said, ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It didn’t beep.’ I said can you call, can you help me,” Currie recalled.
Surveillance video show Currie was walking to her car when a man suddenly backed into her. He jumps out asking if she’s OK.
“With him asking, I did smell alcohol on his breath,” Currie said.
She has felt the effects of a hit and run before, losing her mother to a reckless driver back in 2006 just five miles away from the hospital. She tells 7 Action News that the driver in her mother's incident hasn’t been caught either.
“My mother passed this way, my mother was hit and she died,” Currie said.
The hit left Currie in pain, injuring her neck and back. She was quickly taken into the hospital. She’s been receiving treatment for nerve damage since then.
She remembers seeing the man inside the hospital moments before the hit.
“It all came back like this is the guy that walked out before me,” Currie explained. “He was concerned but I think also he was frightened too because he may have been drinking.”
Police found a beer can nearby and a cigarette butt. They are now testing for DNA.
What disturbs police even more, they say the man drove off backwards avoiding the potential for his license plate getting caught on camera.
“He was protecting himself,” Sgt. Joseph Adams said. “He was not worried about her safety. Yeah his gut feeling was to check on her but then he went forward and said okay I got to get out of here, the police are coming.”
As Currie’s medical bills are now stacking up, she has this message to the driver: “I do forgive you but you could have at least stayed with me.”
Police say the man appears to be in his 50s and was driving a black Jeep Grand Cherokee
“Hopefully somebody recognizes this person,” Sgt. Adams added.
