A Gilroy community is rallying around a 70-year-old man Wednesday after he was severely injured in what they’re calling a road rage incident.
The man, who is a disabled veteran, is recovering from a number of injuries, including broken legs and ribs, a fractured collarbone and punctured lung.
But the community believes things could have been worse if some of them weren’t there to help.
Dashcam video captured the horrifying situation in Gilroy last Monday. Video shows a man somehow ending up on the hood of a car and the driver speeding through a private community.
“He was pleading for his life. It was ‘help, please, stop.’ And it was kind of agonizing to hear,” said witness Carlos Rodriguez. “Which is why I immediately ran outside to the front of my house and that’s when things kind of really unfolded.”
Rodriguez said his dashcam captured the video.
His wife and kids were inside their car. They say it seemed the driver didn’t plan on stopping or slowing down.
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“I jumped in one of our vehicles and drove to the corner where I came across the man laying in the street,” said Rodirguez,
He said the driver had already taken off.
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The man was left on the street, under a lot of duress and bleeding from his head.
“I ran and laid next to david. His name is David,” said Rodriguez. “And I just held his hand. I told him help was on the way. And just stayed there with him until the medics arrived.”
Rodriguez said David told him from his hospital bed that the driver was driving erratically near the community gates.
And when David got out of his car and walked up to the vehicle, the driver became agitated, then bumped David twice, hyperextending his knee.
“As soon as the gates opened, the driver just accelerated full speed with David having no other option because his knee is hyperextended then to grab onto the vehicle,” said Rodriguez. “And that’s how David ended up on the hood in the video.”
Rodriguez has since started a GoFundMe page for David to help with medical expenses.
He said David will not be able to walk for a very long time.
Gilroy police say they’re investigating this incident as vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon.
They’re gathering video evidence to figure out how the situation escalated, who was the primary aggressor, and how the man ended up on the hood of the car.
