7 On Your Side helps Brooklyn resident after parked car smashed during hit-and-run

ByNina Pineda and Steve J. Livingstone WABC logo
Monday, March 4, 2019
7 On Your Side helps Brooklyn resident after parked car smashed during hit-and-run
Nina PIneda reports on how 7 On Your Side helped Brooklyn resident after her parked car was smashed during a hit-and-run.

BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Call it a hit-and-run around after a Brooklyn resident's treasured Toyota was totaled in a demolition derby.

Luckily, the smash-up was all caught on surveillance video. But when her claim got stuck in neutral, she burned rubber over to 7 On Your Side to help her out.

A white Ryder van is seen veering into a row of parked cars at approximately 3:30 a.m. in Bushwick.

The van smashes into two parked cars and then pushes one into a third. But the driver's not done.

He backs up erratically and comes back for round 2, trading paint with the first car and still can't clear the turn.

"I came out and I saw the damage, I couldn't believe it. My car was on the sidewalk," car owner Shelly Hinds said.

Hinds' RAV-4 was totaled, dented, and scraped from bumper to bumper. Hers was the first car struck by the Ryder rental.

"Oh yes," Hinds said. "I am so angry I couldn't believe it. They really need to arrest him. How do you hit all these cars and just leave the scene?" Hinds continued. "He needs to be arrested."

Hinds immediately called Ryder Truck Rentals and was told to file a claim.

"They said I have to wait three weeks because she says they only have two people for all the input for all 50 states," Hinds said.

Hinds told us it was to be a month to even have her claim looked at, so instead she sent the video to 7 On Your Side.

Since her car was paid off, she had just dropped her comprehensive and collision coverage.

With only liability, she was on the hook for thousands in damages and no option for a rental car to get to work everyday.

"Now I'm back on the subway, and its not nice," Hinds lamented.

When 7 On Your Side reached out to Ryder Truck Rental, within a day, Hinds was given a luxury SUV rental.

Hours later, a Ryder adjuster was in the Bronx inspecting her totaled Toyota.

"Ryder contacted me, they apologized for what happened," Hinds said.

Within a week, Ryder had an employee hand deliver a check to Bushwick. "A check for $8,561," Hinds beamed.

Ryder Rental thanked 7 On Your Side and Hinds for reporting the incident.

The van in the video was rented by a business, and Ryder called the driver's behavior "unacceptable."

Hats off to this company because after our call, they worked extremely fast to get Hinds paid, and thousands more than her car was worth.

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