Police: Man accused of stealing car from dealership, hurting woman in hit-and-run crash

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Police believe a man was driving a car he stole from a dealership when he crashed into a woman in east Charlotte and left the scene almost three weeks ago.

The woman has several broken bones. The Huntersville Police Department is looking for the suspect, who is still on the run.

Police believe the man stole the car involved from a Randy Marion dealership in Huntersville, and then stole its license plate from the Huntersville Ford next door as part of a two-day crime spree between May 31 and June 1. Then, police said he crashed on June 1 on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte.

The woman who was hurt in the crash, Heather Crump, spoke to Channel 9′s DaShawn Brown.

“The car was spinning and turning,” Crump said. “Glass was flying and then airbags are deployed.”

The wife and mother has already had two surgeries so far and is trying to get strong enough to undergo a third.

“We’re looking at the next two to three months before I’m able to be a mom, I am able to be a wife, before I’m able to go back to work,” Crump told Brown.

Crump said when the crash happened, she was driving home from work with her 22-year-old daughter.

“The keys were out of the ignition and my shoes were off my feet when we stopped, so that goes to show how hard I was hit,” Crump said.

At the time, she was so concerned with her daughter’s safety, she didn’t realize she was hurt.

“I could not walk,” Crump said. “I looked down at my legs — I have never seen somebody’s knee not where it was supposed to be.”

Investigators said surveillance video captured the suspect stealing the registration plate, and now, they need help finding out who and where he is.

“I’m 40 years old using a walker and having to be assisted to the bathroom,” Crump said. “Having to be assisted to do anything.”

She said the timing has been both frustrating and heartbreaking. It’s been just one year since her oldest son, Joshua Hollingsworth, was murdered.

“It’s times when I am crying about the pain and crying about him as well,” she said.

Crump added there was a woman in a black car who not only stopped to give police an eyewitness account, but also called 911.

“And a young lady pulled up in a black car,” Crump said. “I don’t know who she is but whoever she is, I’d like to say thank you to her, because if it wasn’t for her, I would not of had an eyewitness.”

Anyone with information on who the suspect is should reach out to Huntersville police and speak with Detective Smith at jsmith@huntersville.org or 704-464-5518.

Tips can also be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 704-896-7867. There is a $1,000 reward if the information leads to an arrest.

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