NCCU student asks for help finding hit-and-run driver who smashed his car
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- James Peace is crushed. So is his car.
"I put so much money into my car this summer. I feel like everything is wasted now," he told ABC11, pointing to the extensive damage in the back of his car.
The NCCU student worked the entire summer to pay for repairs to his vehicle. Last Sunday, he'd just parked it on the side of the road when he heard and felt a loud boom.
The driver that hit him made a shocking revelation.
"She said, 'why'd you guys let me drive, you know I've been drinking tonight,'" Peace recalled. "There were two guys in the back seat. I could tell they were drunk. One of the guys was passed out."
He said the driver also offered to pay for the damage.
So he did what all drivers are told to do after a major collision. He called 911 but the unidentified driver she sped off.
"Someone could've died," Peace said. "Those people really didn't care. They just kept going. I don't want this to happen to someone else."
Peace also wrote down the license plate number, but to no avail. Police checked it out only to discover it may have been a stolen tag, belonging to different vehicle.
Peace is asking others to be on the lookout for a late '80s or early '90s dark blue Nissan Maxima with minor damage in the front.
The damage on Peace's car is anything but minor. The cost to repair it is more than its value. The gas tank started leaking the night of the crash.
For now, it is parked and Peace is in pain.
"I can't look a certain way or turn a certain way without it hurting," Peace said. "I try not to think about it. But, that makes me think about it every day."
Anyone with information is urged to call Durham police.
