Hero combat dog killed by coward hit and run driver

Canine veteran killed by vehicle
IN EAST HELENA
GERMAN SHEPHERD HAD TWO TOURS IN IRAQ, 10 SECRET SERVICE MISSIONS
Independent Record
By SANJAY TALWANI
October 4, 2013

A retired military dog with two tours in Iraq and experience with the U.S. Secret Service was killed Monday in an apparent hit-and-run outside East Helena.

Natz, a 7-year-old German shepherd, had just retired from the military in May after five years in explosives detection.

“This was a very special dog, an incredibly special dog.” said his owner, Rachel Weidner. “He protected a lot of people.”

Monday morning in the predawn hours, Natz got loose — for the first time ever — from his home on Old U.S. Route 12 just east of East Helena, said Weidner. He had the appropriate identification tag, she said.

She and her husband searched for him, and she eventually left for work but returned a few hours later, around 8 a.m., to find a lengthy splatter of blood and some of Natz’s fur on the road about 300 feet from her home.

She contacted local police and learned that his remains had been taken to the Lewis and Clark Humane Society.
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Soldiers recovering after hit and run

2 Soldiers Chase SUV After Hit-and-Run in Roseville
KAAL News
By: Maricella Miranda
09/18/2013

Two Army soldiers helped chase down an SUV after the vehicle reportedly hit two other soldiers in Roseville, according to an Army spokesman.

Staff Sgt. Travis Torgerson, 42, of Circle Pines, was reportedly hit and dragged by the SUV, reported Ken Plant of Army Public Affairs. Staff Sgt. Michael Stroud, 29, of Brooklyn Park, allegedly was hit by the vehicle. Staff Sgt. Adam Boktor and Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Knaak chased after the vehicle, he said.

The soldiers involved are non-comissioned officers of the U.S. Army Recruiting Center in Roseville, Plant said. The incident happened around 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Torgerson is being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center. His stepmother reported Tuesday that he will be OK. According to Roseville police, he suffered severe, non-life threatening injuries to his body as well as a broken leg.

Torgerson was with Stroud when they were reportedly hit by a 1994 Jeep Cherokee at the Crossroads of Roseville Shopping Center located at 1651 West County Road B2, police said. Torgerson was stuck under the SUV, while Stroud went over the hood of the SUV.
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Fort Bragg soldier charged after deadly hit and run

Bragg soldier charged in weekend hit-and-run
Associated Press
April 10, 2013

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier has been charged with second-degree murder and hit-and-run in the death of a motorcyclist in Fayetteville.
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Iraq war veteran Eric Schultz left for dead in ditch

Mesquite Iraq Veteran Left for Dead In Hit and Run
Family asks for answers in hit and run incident
By Tammy Mutasa
Thursday, Nov 22, 2012

A North Texas family is asking for help finding the hit and run driver who left an Iraq war veteran for dead. Eric Schultz is recovering at home after he was critically injured in the incident.

Schultz fought for this country in Iraq and South Korea for two years. Now, the veteran and his family are fighting for answers, after a hit and run driver left him for dead in a ditch.

"I thought I was pretty much dead, it's scary," said Schultz. "I just want to know why they didn't help? Why didn't you stay? Why didn't you at least call the cops? Why couldn't you have done something besides get scared and leave?"

Over Veterans Day weekend, Schultz was walking along Interstate 635 near Bruton and New Market Roads when a car hit him and the driver took off.

A passerby found the veteran in a ditch next to the road and called for help.
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Shot fired in hit-and-run outside Walter Reed Hospital

Shot fired in hit-and-run outside Walter Reed Hospital
CBS News
BETHESDA, MD.
A Virginia woman is in custody for an attempted hit-and-run outside the entrance of Walter Reed Hospital that led a Naval officer to fire a shot at her.

Police say an officer at the hospital shot at the woman's car after the crash Tuesday morning but did not strike her. The officer was injured, apparently when he used a baton to strike the woman's car.

CBS affiliate WUSA reports the woman first struck another vehicle while leaving the facility Tuesday morning, tried to run over an officer with her car, and then drove away after an officer fired his gun.
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Two months home from Afghanistan, Marine fighting for life after hit and run

Marine's Family Speaks After Ada Hit-and-Run Incident
KTEN
Posted: Oct 22, 2012
By Shannon McConathy, Reporter / Producer

TUPELO, OK -- Josh Stein, a marine and father, fought for his country in Afghanistan.

After returning just two months ago, he is fighting for his life at an Oklahoma City Hospital.

"His ribs are broken on both sides. His lungs are bruised and one has a hole in them.

His liver is bruised and has a tear in it. He's lost part of an ear," Stein's grandmother Nellie Hunter explained.

Stein is still in critical condition after being hit by a vehicle in a parking lot.

Nellie Hunter is caring for her grandson's children as his wife and parents stay at OU Medical Center.
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Iraq vet given probation for Metzker hit-and-run and forgiveness

Iraq vet given probation for Metzker hit-and-run
Sep 14, 2012
RGJ.com
Written by
Jaclyn O’Malley

Ryan Joseph Rhea, 23, of Sparks, arrested Nov. 12 on one felony count of hit-and-run causing the death of KTVN sports director JK Metzker. Officials said alcohol appears to be a factor in the case, which is still under investigation.

Drinks with friends at a college hangout following a University of Nevada football game ended tragically Nov. 12 when sportscaster JK Metzker was struck by a pickup as he crossed the street.

The driver, a 23-year-old Iraq War combat veteran, backed up, and then drove around the 41-year-old father of three’s body, said Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler.

On the advice of a passenger who yelled, “Go, go, go! I have a traffic warrant!” Ryan Rhea then drove down residential streets to try to elude responding police, Sattler said, adding that Rhea had been drinking alcohol earlier in the evening.

Rhea never stopped to help Metzker, and never called police, despite his military training, Sattler said.

Metzker, a popular television figure at KTVN Channel 2, later died of his injuries. Attorneys said in court Friday that Metzker’s injuries were so severe that had Rhea stopped to help, it would not have improved his chance to survive.

Washoe District Judge Brent Adams on Friday suspended Rhea’s 2- to 10-year prison sentence and ordered he be on probation for not more than five years. Adams also ordered Rhea to perform community service and pay a $2,000 fine. Rhea had pleaded guilty to the felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving the death of a human being.
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Iraq Vet left for dead still doesn't know who did it

Iraq vet making remarkable recovery, say doctors
Apr 9, 2012
Written by Jay Olstad

MINNEAPOLIS - Inside the Veterans Affairs Health Care building, sits 29-year old John Byro.

With every ordinary task he completes, he travels down a road that is becoming more extraordinary by the minute.

On this day it was remembering his computer password with little effort.

Six weeks ago, it was walking.

"I can't believe I was that far behind or that I've gotten as far as I have," said Byro.

It was last year in late October when Byro, an Iraq War veteran, was riding his motorcycle near Gaylord. Investigators say a vehicle slammed into him at the intersection of Highways 5 and 19. He laid there dying while the vehicle sped off.

The driver has not been heard from since.

"It is frustrating," he said. "There has to be people out there who knows who he is, he needs to get caught."

But authorities do not even know if the driver is a man. Investigators have little to go on and are asking for the public's help. read more here

Fort Carson Wife in ICU after hit and run driver took off

Family: Children Of Hit-And-Run Victim Witnessed Crash

Neighborhood children, including her own, witnessed the devastating hit-and-run crash that has left a soldier's wife in ICU.
Posted: 12:22 PM Mar 31, 2012 Reporter: KKTV

Neighborhood children, including her own, witnessed the devastating hit-and-run crash that has left Cassandrea Thorn in ICU. "Her pelvis was crushed," Cassandrea's father-in-law Paul Thorn told 11 News. "Most of her back muscles and skin have been separated from the tissues of her bone." The crash occurred on Remagen Road, which is on Fort Carson, Thursday evening. read more here

Fort Benning soldier is charged with hit and run

Fort Benning soldier is charged with hit and run
By: LIZ BUCKTHORPE
WRBL
Published: February 14, 2012

COLUMBUS, Ga.

"The fact that he took off, i couldn't understand. From one soldier to the next, even if we weren't involved in the accident we would pull over to provide aid, not leave our brother or sister."

The Muscogee County Jail confirms a Fort Benning soldier is out on bond after being arrested for fleeing the scene of an accident that police say he is responsible for. 24-year-old Andrew Kelly of the Army's 3rd Brigade is facing multiple charges after a Monday afternoon incident.

Reports show that Kelly was driving east-bound on Manchester Expressway when he made a sudden lane change to avoid the car in front of him, in turn, smashing into the side of Army Veteran Ingar Parker’s Ford Explorer. She explains, "and then I was hit. And when I was hit I was startled, I didn't know what to do. I think I freaked out and I was screaming and I was hurt and I just didn't understand it."

Parker says that immediately after the collision she jumped out of the car to talk to Kelly and ensure he was okay.

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Decorated Marine forgives DUI driver who nearly killed him

Decorated marine forgives DUI driver who nearly killed him
January 6, 2012

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A woman who was drunk when she hit a decorated Marine from behind on his motorcycle, leaving him with critical injuries that doctors initially thought would kill him, was sentenced Friday to four years and four months in prison.

Jessica Marie Bloom, 22, pleaded guilty Nov. 8 to felony charges of DUI causing injury and hit-and-run.

The crash left Gunnery Sgt. David W. Smith with numerous injuries, including a partial decapitation, lacerated kidney, lacerated liver and bleeding on the brain.

Smith, a Bronze Star recipient for valor, was comatose for two days, paralyzed completely for two of three days and on life support for 10 days.
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National Guard soldier in uniform victim of hit and run

National Guard soldier in hit & run in Vineland, police want information
Published: Thursday, December 08, 2011
By Stephen Smith
The News of Cumberland County

VINELAND — The state police are asking for information about a truck that hit an Army National Guard soldier as he was trying to repair his car along Route 55 and did not stop.

The soldier, whose name was withheld, did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

Public information officer Christopher Kay said that the guardsman was driving north on Route 55 in the area of milepost 35 just before 4 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3.

He was reporting to West Orange for active duty and was dressed in his full camouflage uniform.
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Iraq war vet still critical following hit and run October

Iraq war vet still critical following hit and run
12:16 AM, Dec 4, 2011
Written by
Jay Olstad

MINNEAPOLIS - If home is where the heart is, then Amy Byro has been home for the last 37 days.

"The staff has been joking about changing my address to his room," said Byro.

She hasn't strayed too far from her brother's side at the Hennepin County Medical Center.

Her brother, 29-year old Iraq War veteran John Byro, is in critical condition after a driver crashed into him while he was riding his motorcycle.

It happened in small southern Minnesota town of Gaylord back in October. The driver took off and hasn't been heard from since.

"I don't understand how they cannot turn themselves in," she said.
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Original report
Iraq War Vet critically injured in hit and run

Iraq war vet critically injured in hit and run

Iraq war vet critically injured in hit and run
8:52 PM, Nov 6, 2011

Written by
Dave Berggren

MINNEAPOLIS - It's an emotional time for the family of John Byro.

"It's been a rough week," said Dave Byro, John's father. "It's serious, but the doctors don't know John. He's a fighter."

John, a 29-year old Iraq war veteran, was riding his motorcycle near Gaylord, MN when he collided with a vehicle at the intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 19. The incident left John lying in the middle of the road while the other vehicle sped off.

"No parent should have their son or daughter left in the highway," says Dave. "I mean people gotta care more than that."
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UPDATE to story
Iraq Vet still critical

U.S. Marine injured in hit-and-run crash

U.S. Marine injured in hit-and-run crash

MILWAUKIE, Ore. -
A U.S. Marine home on leave was injured in a hit-and-run crash Friday night.

Thai Huu Lam, 19, was walking on Southeast Oatfield Street when a truck hit him from behind, throwing Lam 30 feet. The driver left the scene without stopping.

Despite hitting his head on a tree, Lam is doing fine, said his cousin Kimberly Dang.

"He's talking. He remembers stuff," said Dang. "He's doing good. He's sore."

Dang said Lam has a fractured eye socket and cuts and scratches on his face, but that he is conscious and eager to be released from Oregon Health and Science University.
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U.S. Marine injured in hit-and-run crash

House Built By Family of Volunteers for Iraq War Veteran

House Built By Family of Volunteers for Iraq War Veteran

Keshena native and Iraq war veteran Forrest Perez has been in a wheelchair since September when he was seriously hurt in a hit-and-run crash. For the past six weeks, local volunteers have been building a handicap-accessible home for the recovering soldier.

"When this project first started, I felt like we are a very small family from Keshena, and look at all the family we have now," says Forrest's aunt, Amy Perez.

As the family of volunteers put on the finishing touches Saturday morning, Forrest and his fiance Heather Koppman can hardly wait to begin their new lives. "I like it," says Forrest.

"I think he's more concerned about the TV room, I think," says Heather. "Sit in front of the TV watching Packer games."

More than 200 people volunteered to build the 1,300 square foot house right behind Forrest's old home. "We had nine people living in our house then, so it was pretty crowded with everyone there," explains Lynell Perez, Forrest's mother.

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House Built By Family of Volunteers for Iraq War Veteran

Two tour Iraq veteran in coma after hit and run driver left him

Hudson Iraq War Vet in Coma Following Accident

Ritchey is an Army veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart after suffering an injury from an IED while serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

By Dan Jovic | dan.jovic@fox8.com
Fox8.com Reporter
7:15 p.m. EDT, May 18, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Iraq war veteran from Hudson remains in critical condition at the Ohio State Medical Center following a possible hit-and-run early Sunday morning.

According to a police report filed on the incident by Ohio State Campus Police, Chris Ritchey, 28, of Hudson, was riding a bike at 2:40 a.m. Sunday morning when he was possibly struck by a vehicle that fled the scene of the accident.

Police say Ritchey was might have been struck at the intersection of West Lane Avenue and North High Street, according to the report.
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Hudson Iraq War Vet in Coma Following Accident

3 year old killed playing in yard by hit and run driver

Car strikes, kills toddler playing in his front yard
Jean Patteson Sentinel Staff Writer
August 10, 2008
A 3-year-old boy was struck by a car while playing in his front yard in a hit-and-run accident near Fruitland Park in Lake County about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, troopers said. The child was taken to Leesburg Medical Center, where he died shortly after 9 p.m. His name was not available. The accident happened on Twin Palms Road (County Road 466A), when the driver of a blue vehicle veered off the road into the yard. The driver may have been impaired, said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Miller. The driver of the vehicle was later arrested in Lake County, Miller said. No name was available.

Man dies after troopers say hit-run driver drags, runs him over

Man dies after troopers say hit-run driver drags, runs him over
By Chuin-Wei Yap, Times Staff Writer
In print: Saturday, August 2, 2008
DADE CITY — A 56-year-old Lacoochee man died after being dragged and then run over by a pickup on Mosstown Road on Thursday night.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Eugene Austin Pickett died at Pasco Regional Hospital in Dade City, where he was taken after the accident.

Troopers are looking for the driver of a white truck who reportedly got into an argument with Pickett just before the accident. The white truck also has a blue driver's door.

Troopers estimate the accident happened at 8:30 p.m. on Mosstown Road just east of U.S. 301. The truck was westbound on Mosstown Road when it stopped. Troopers say Pickett was standing next to the vehicle when an argument broke out between him and the driver. Officers don't know why the pair argued.

Anyone with information should call Sgt. Heather Glenny toll-free at 1-800-235-6019.
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Enterprise Rent-A-Car refused to help find hit and run killer of Marine

Troopers seize car suspected in Marine's death
By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, June 25, 2008



PORT RICHEY — The Florida Highway Patrol trooper at the door was looking for a car that killed a motorcyclist on U.S. 19.

The first clue the trooper might be at the right place: Two small children came up and asked him, are you here to see the car that hit the motorcycle?

That's what happened on Saturday, according to an FHP search warrant, before troopers got a court order to seize the vehicle they think was involved in the June 18 hit-and-run crash that killed Nicholas Burns Jr.

The 22-year-old Marine reservist and Citrus County resident was set to deploy to Iraq in December. His funeral was on Tuesday.

After last week's crash, the FHP asked for help in finding the vehicle, described as a gray sedan with a spoiler on the back.
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