BOSTON (WHDH) - A young Massachusetts healthcare worker is pleading for help! She was the victim of a terrifying hit and run—and is now trying to find the driver who put her life at risk. Hank Investigates.
It was a road Hanaa Dembri had driven hundreds of times heading home after her shift at a Boston hospital.
But on the night of September 2nd, it took a terrifying turn.
“I just held on and just prayed,” Hanaa says. “I was like, please, God, don’t let this be it.”
Hanaa says she remembers hearing a fast car approaching.
“Within a second he slammed right into my driver’s seat. He kept going and then slammed me on the guardrail. My car wouldn’t brake, it wouldn’t do anything. It just kept going as he was going,” she says.
Then the other driver stopped going – hit the brakes, backed up, and drove away.
Hanaa was alone, terrified, and trapped.
Her door was so damaged she couldn’t get out.
Her car’s emergency system called 911.
“I was hyperventilating in the car,” Hanaa says.
Rescue crews got Haana out of the car. Her shoulder was injured, and her car was totaled.
Weeks later the guardrail on Route 16 in Everett still has dents and scrapes that show the power of the crash.
“It was just it was truly traumatizing,” Hanaa says.
Hanaa says she’s trying to recover. She’s terrified to be in a car knowing the hit and run driver has not been caught.
“Did you see him drive away?” Hank asked.
“I saw a little bit of white in my window because all my airbags went off so I couldn’t see anything outside of my car,” Hanaa says.
Police tell us the crash wasn’t caught on any surveillance cameras.
Witnesses say the car involved was a white BMW SUV.
But we found there’s more than 4800 of those registered in Massachusetts.
So Hanaa is asking for your help.
“If somebody knows something about this or suspects something about this, what do you want them to do?” Hank asked.
“Somebody has to have seen something. Somebody definitely knows something. And it’s just only right. Do your part and just speak up. That’s all I’m asking,” Hanaa says.
State police say if you have any information, they’d like to hear from you. And they say if you ever witness a hit and run, try to write down even two or three numbers from the license plate if you can. That could make the difference in investigators finding the driver and keeping that person off the road.
Massachusetts State Police tell us:
Unfortunately, in this instance, not enough identifiable information was recovered in order to locate the vehicle that fled the scene, described as a white BMW SUV with damage to the front passenger side quarter. Troopers canvased the area, took witness statements, and searched the scene of the crash for vehicle-specific components that may have helped identify the fleeing vehicle.
Anyone with any information may contact Trooper Matthew Leslie at the Medford Barracks by calling 781-396-0100.
For drivers involved in a collision where the other driver refuses to stay on scene, it can be extremely beneficial in an investigation if a license plate, even partial, along with a make or model of the fleeing vehicle, is able to be passed along to Troopers. Always remember, however, that your safety is a priority, and only obtain the information about the other vehicle if you can do so safely.
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