Photo by Marci Newman.
Marci Newman was driving down Peavy Road on a Sunday afternoon, heading to pick up some food.
She was near Chasers Lounge on Nov. 28 when another car turned left, running right into Newman’s car.
“He jilted me pretty hard,” Newman says. “I’m just in shock, just sitting there. And he’s just sitting there.”
Then the other driver started moving again, scraping Newman’s 2011 Ford Focus while doing so. She reversed a little to get away from the other driver, who pulled into a nearby parking lot.
Newman, who lives in Casa View, could barely see because her car was smoking so much, but she was able to drive her car into the lot, too, to get out of the road.
The other driver approached Newman and accused her of running into him.
“I got out of my car, which is hard to do,” Newman says. “I was just shaking. I was so angry. I go, ‘No, you hit me.'”
Newman says another man was standing by a dumpster, and when he heard the other driver blame Newman for the accident, he came up to them and told them he saw the whole thing. He corroborated Newman’s side of the story.
The other driver then got back in his car and drove away. Newman memorized the license plate and reported it to the police.
When the police arrived, they interviewed Newman and the man who saw the accident. An officer provided Newman with an accident number and a hit-and-run number, which we verified with the Dallas Police Department.
Newman waited about four hours for a tow truck to arrive. Her car was taken to the mechanic’s shop, and it sat there for three days before being moved to the collision center.
The insurance company wouldn’t pay for repairs, but she received a settlement. Newman says she can’t afford to spend more than $80 per month for a car payment.
She is a pet sitter and relies on a car to get to people’s homes. She applied for a car through 1-800-Charity Cars and asked her coworkers if anyone could lend her a vehicle for the holiday season, which is a busy time for pet sitting. Newman also planned to reach out to Auto City to see if they could help.
Last night, a family friend of Newman’s told her they have an extra car. It has been sitting for a while and needs a few repairs and an inspection, but it’s “a definite possibility,” Newman says.
Newman says she’s been working with the pet sitting company since 2004, and it’s one of the things that keeps her going, taking her mind off of her health issues.
“I love taking care of animals,” Newman says.
