It’s a Hank whodunnit. How did one local family’s car end up smashed and damaged?
Turns out the culprit was caught on camera. But even with video proof, the family says their claim hit a dead end until Hank started investigating.
Shattered and in pieces, that’s how Tara found the taillight on one of her cars last month.
“You could see, like, all of the plastic or whatever, you know, kind of all around the car, you know, smashed,” Tara said.
The car had not left her New Hampshire driveway all spring during the COVID lockdown, so how did it happen?
Immediately, Tara asked her teenagers, “You know, like who hit the car?”
Her kids insisted they weren’t guilty and suggested they watch the family’s home surveillance video.
That’s when they saw the real culprit, a delivery truck.
“At first, I was like, did that really just happen?” Tara said.
The video shows the truck backing into the driveway and then you hear it hit her car.
The sound was so loud it even surprised their dogs and they were recorded barking on the video.
“You hear the crash and then, looks like they’re looking and then fly out of the driveway,” Tara said.
Yup, with Tara’s package still inside, the truck drives off.
“I was really angry at that point. Like–just stop knock on the door, say, you know, hey, you’ve got a really difficult driveway to navigate. And as I was navigating it, you know, I hit your vehicle, and here’s my information,” Tara said.
Tara assumed since she had that video as proof the delivery company would pay for the damage.
But she says when she tried to contact the company, she hit dead ends.
“I got transferred around, transferred around, transferred around. I get put on hold. I get hung up on,” Tara said.
When no one ever called back she finally called the local police who came and took a report.
At that moment the situation changed from a simple fender bender to a criminal case, because even if you hit an empty parked car and leave, that’s considered a hit and run.
Tara says when the police tried to investigate they also had trouble reaching the delivery company.
Tired of roadblocks, Tara contacted us.
We sent the delivery company the video.
In an email, the company wrote:
“Safety is our top priority” … “and we apologize for any inconvenience this incident caused.”
Soon after that, they called Tara and told her they’d pay nearly $2000 to repair her car and even sent a tow truck to take it to the shop.
“Thank you,” Tara said.
Police in New Hampshire tell Hank they’re now charging the delivery driver with leaving the scene of an accident.
“You can’t do that, you know, you get out, you leave a note, you do whatever you can, but you don’t just leave,” Tara said.
Police say if the driver had just notified Tara of the accident this entire situation could have been avoided.
And if you’re wondering Tara did finally get her package, but the driver parked on the street.
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