Georgia resident Jacaranda Gutierrez is calling on the community to help find the man who hit her at an intersection and then helped her across the street before fleeing the scene.
A Georgia hit-and-run victim is asking for the public's help in finding the man who struck her with his car, according to reports.
Before noon on June 27, Jacaranda Gutierrez was crossing the street at the intersection near Centennial Olympic Park when she was struck, according to 11 Alive.
"I looked up to see if I still had time to cross the street. I still had about five seconds," she said to the outlet.
"It looked like the car was going to turn, but I thought he would turn behind me and on his lane," she described to the outlet.
Security surveillance video showed that Gutierrez had the right of way and was hit by the car.
Video shows the suspect getting out to check on her and walking her to the sidewalk before getting back into his vehicle and driving away.
According to 11 Alive, Gutierrez, who was 20 at the time, said this incident changed her life forever.
"I look back -- next thing you know, he's going, and then I'm just on top of his car. I slid off his hood after he pressed the breaks. That was really painful."
According to the outlet, two witnesses who were walking in front of Gutierrez called 911.
Gutierrez believes the man may have been paying attention to these two women, ultimately causing the accident, according to 11 Alive.
Gutierrez’s attorney Antonio Molina shared that the video showed the driver was turning into the wrong lane, according to the outlet.
"How do you not notice she’s right in front of you and you keep going straight without even attempting to hit the breaks?" he asked.
"Had he made his turn behind her, where he was supposed to turn into, he would’ve never hit her," he said. "It’s not like he was going 60 mph. He can clearly see - based on the video - that he had enough time to perceive where she was at.
Gutierrez was taken to Atlanta Medical Center and received X-rays and scans to see the extent of her injuries.
"They said everything was OK," she said to the outlet.
"I did not feel OK. Not physically. Not mentally."
Gutierrez said she was on her way to get a new passport to attend her father's funeral in Mexico. He had died four days prior but she was unable to attend due to her injuries.
"In my head I'm like, 'Why is everything happening like this?' My side was in so much pain," she said.
Gutierrez says she is still haunted by those moments and sought out Molina for help after months of pain and trouble sleeping.
"It's really hard to see this tape and see the actions that took place," Molina said to 11 Alive.
"Now, I'm like really, really scared," she told 11Alive. "Almost paranoid. To where I'm looking each way more than two times to cross the street."
Four months later the man who hit her still hasn’t been found, but Molina says the video shows a clear view of the car's make: a black Nissan Kicks, 2018 to 2020 model, according to the outlet.
"We want justice to be had," he added. "We don't want to go after the wrong individual."
Molina told the outlet that he hopes they find the witnesses that called 911 for Gutierrez, believing one of them might have more information that could help them get closer to the man driving the car.
Gutierrez told the outlet she hopes the man comes forward to give an apology and so he can help with hospital bills.
"I don't want to just put him in jail -- he did help me get across the street -- if he could just come forward and we could get this out of the way… You know maybe an apology or anything, an apology could go a long way."
Molina shares his call for assistance in the situation with the outlet saying, "This happened in the middle of the day, so we know there were people that observed this or maybe even heard of this, or were there present,”
"It’s in a busy area, a well-traveled area. We’re calling on the community: if you saw this, please reach out to us."
If anyone witnessed this accident or may know more about the incident, they're asked to call Molina's office at 770-685-7561.
