Good Samaritan stops hit-and-run driver, saves victims

A good Samaritan is being hailed a hero after jumping into action and stopping a driver who hit a family on Tuesday and didn’t stop.

According to WFSB, Richard Ruiz saw the driver plow into a mother, her pregnant daughter and a young boy, and the driver didn’t stop or slow down, so he took matters into his own hands with his work van.

“He wasn’t pulling over,” Ruiz told WFSB. “I blocked him off. He tried to reverse, somebody else blocked him off and I dragged him out of the car.”

Ruiz then took the driver over to the victims and made him call the police.

“I just dragged him and told him, ‘Let’s go see what’s going on with these people, they’re hurt,’” Ruiz said. “And he said, ‘No, I’m nervous. I’ve got to get out of here.’ I said ‘No, you’re not going anywhere.’”

According to NBC Connecticut, the victims, Evelinda Rodriguez, 43, Denissa Aviles, 23, and Jerry Torres, 18, sustained broken bones and cuts.

Rodriguez and Aviles remained hospitalized Thursday, while Torres had been released.

Contact Kira Terry at kterry@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kiraterry