Man urges driver to come forward after Bluffdale hit-and-run
Aug 24, 2022, 9:02 PM | Updated: Aug 25, 2022, 6:05 am
BLUFFDALE, Utah — A man was pleading Wednesday for a driver to come forward and confess following a hit-and-run crash in his neighborhood that left him injured.
Lyman Ward, 83, said just before 8 a.m. Monday he was walking south of his home along 3200 West when a dark suburban-type SUV struck him near the entrance of a gated community close to 14500 South.
“I noticed there was a car coming and it was coming fast,” Ward told KSL TV during an interview Wednesday evening. “It was about arm’s length from me and boom! [It] caught me on the right side of me and threw me onto the ground and ran over my left foot.”
Ward said the SUV never stopped and continued north while he was left injured and alone on the road.
“I’ve heard of this happening to other people but I couldn’t believe it would happen to me,” Ward said. “I was just a pedestrian in the right place at the right time and boy, I don’t know how fast (the driver) was going but it wasn’t really slow.”
Eventually, he said a woman came along, found him in the road and helped him back to his family’s house nearby.
“It’s bad enough that I have to have this boot on,” said Ward, referencing his injured foot. “On this left hip, I’ve got a bump or a bruise about the size of a softball.”
Ward also said he had an injured rib and back, but he acknowledged as bad as the impact was, it could have ended even worse.
“I firmly believe that if I had been 5 inches further into that intersection, I would have been paralyzed or killed,” Ward said.
Bluffdale Police confirmed Wednesday they were investigating the matter.
Family members of Ward said their surveillance camera at their house captured an SUV matching Ward’s description heading northbound on 3200 West shortly after the time of the collision.
Ward urged the driver to come forward and confess, saying that his lifestyle has been changed forever when it comes to walking around his neighborhood.
“I’ll be alright — I just know I’m lucky,” Ward said. “I don’t want it to happen again to anybody!”
