Henrico, VA—A local woman is recovering after being nearly run over in broad daylight by an alleged drunk driver.
The incident occurred in the 2200 block of East Nine Mile Road in Henrico. Resident Doris Heath says she heard a loud crash at about 1:00 PM Tuesday afternoon.
"Just a real loud bang, I've heard accidents before, so I knew somebody hit something, I knew it was an accident. It was loud."
A truck had crashed through Heath's neighbor, Larry Kaniecki's, front yard fence.
"All of the fence posts were busted up, 4 by 4's ripped out of the ground, everything ripped apart," says Kaniecki.
As Heath approached the scene, she saw a teenage girl standing outside of the crashed truck. The 14-year-old girl told her that her mother, the driver, was drunk.
Heath says she heard the woman, 32-year-old Crystal Howard, yelling and cursing at the girl, telling her to get back in the truck.
"I didn't think, I just said ‘don't you dare get it that truck,'" Heath says.
Howard became enraged, put the truck in reverse, and directed the vehicle towards Heath.
"She backed it up a little bit and started coming this way, and I'm like, 'Oh, she's coming after me.'"
Howard chased the woman down the road with her vehicle, forcing Heath to run to the house next to hers. Heath's knee was damaged in her flight from the truck.
Howard was arrested not far from the scene, and faces a variety of charges, including Driving While Intoxicated, Child Endangerment, and Malicious Wounding.
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Copyright 2012 by Young Broadcasting of Richmond
