ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. — Dramatic video released shows a crash at a gas pump in Taylorsville where a woman was run over by a pickup truck.
The woman was airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries after being knocked off her feet and run over twice.
Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty that learned a local magistrate and two other men are being called heroes because of what they did after the accident.
The accident occurred at one of the busiest gas stations in town along Highway 16 at the Walmart, when the driver veered off the roadway and plowed into the parking lot, striking a woman.
In the video, the pickup truck can be seen slamming into the car, sending it across the parking lot, and the driver to the pavement.
Police asked Channel 9 not to show the truck as it went right over the defenseless woman.
"I don't think he even realized what happened,” said Taylorsville Police Chief Dennis James.
James said the driver, Bobby Simmons, was under the influence of pain pills when the crash happened.
He is charged with DWI and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
A woman airlifted to the hospital in Alexander County after being run over by a truck while pumping gas. Police charged the driver with DWI pic.twitter.com/l2ZKpsA7HN
— Dave Faherty (@FahertyWSOC9) September 30, 2016
"It was a miracle. I didn't expect to find her,” the woman’s sister-in-law Brenda Roope said.
Roope said she was not seriously injured and expects to make a full recovery.
"The only thing she can remember is being on the ground and seeing those wheels coming at her. (They were) huge wheels, she says,” Roope said.
Alexander County magistrate Jonathan Watts saw the crash, and with the help of two other men, says he kept Simmons from running off.
"(He) took a few steps like he was trying to get away. (I) just took his legs out from under him and we jumped on top of him,” Watts said.
Watts and the others held Simmons until police arrived.
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