Frank Guzman says NYPD wouldn't investigate hit-and-run that left him injured even though he gave officers video
NEW YORK -- A Bronx father says he had to pursue his own investigation after a hit-and-run driver sent him to the hospital.
He claims police never filed a report, so he gathered his own surveillance video and presented it to officers.
But as CBS2's Christina Fan reported Tuesday, what happened next frustrated him.
Frank Guzman was in agony, still hobbling on crutches four days after a hit-and-run driver sent him flying off his motorcycle. The 32-year-old's chin was split open and the back of his head was bruised, but he said it was the apathy from police that stung the most.
"I mean, it's a crime. He left the scene of an accident. It's a crime. And you're refusing. You're telling me there's nothing you can do," Guzman said of police.
Guzman was headed home on Friday, going southbound on Boston Road in the Bronx, when surveillance video shows a white car hitting him, catapulting him into the air.
"I remember when I tried to move myself out of the middle of traffic. I couldn't get up," Guzman said.
At first, Guzman thought officers would come interview him at Jacobi Hospital. They never did, so the next afternoon, he and his wife went to the 48th Precinct to file a report.
He said officers refused to take his evidence.
"He said, 'We showed up, nobody was there, job's done.' That's what he said. And that really got me upset," Guzman said.
The NYPD sent CBS2 a statement, which said, in part, "The individual came into the precinct with no visible injuries and was given information to file a collision report."
Guzman said he was given a form, but was told to send it to Albany.
He's concerned that surveillance that could've captured the driver's license plate is long gone.
"I can get year, make, model, direction that he was going. I can get the addresses to the buildings where there's cameras and I'm not a cop. That means that you could have gotten that plate five to 10 minutes after the accident. Instead of doing that, you just didn't even show up. Job's done," Guzman said.
Without a police report, Guzman says his insurance company is refusing to pay for his medical bills.
He's temporarily out of work, out of money, with no justice in sight.
