Police are searching for a man who they say deliberately ran over a woman following a fender bender in Wildwood and then fled the scene. As the search continues, the victim is speaking out.
What to Know
- Police in Wildwood have issued an arrest warrant for the suspected driver in a Memorial Day weekend hit-and-run.
- Dalton Storms, 21, is accused of aggravated assault, leaving the scene and other counts in the crash that injured a 56-year-old woman.
- Police impounded Storms' car but have been unable to track him down.
More than a week after a woman was run over following a Memorial Day weekend fender bender, police along the Jersey Shore continue to look for the suspected hit-and-run driver.
Wildwood police posted to Facebook Sunday the latest on their investigation into the May 24 incident along West Rio Grande Avenue crash near Park Boulevard.
When officers arrived around 9:50 p.m. that Friday night, they found 56-year-old Joanne Manuli, of Villas, New Jersey, injured on the street.
Witnesses told police Manuli was stopped in traffic while heading east on Rio Grande when a white sports car rear-ended her car. Manuli got out of her car and into a verbal altercation with the other driver, police said.
The sports car driver attempted to drive off, but Manuli stepped in front of his car.
“The driver of the sports car proceeded slowly for several feet, pushing the victim backwards, before quickly accelerating,” police wrote on Facebook. “The victim was ultimately pulled under the sports car and run over by at least one of the vehicle’s tires as the sports car fled from the scene.”
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Manuli was flown to an Atlantic City hospital for treatment for multiple broken bones and a bruised hip, police said in the post and in an affidavit of probable cause. She has since been released from the hospital. She had a message for the hit-and-run driver when she spoke to NBC10 Monday.
"Hello, you cut off my livelihood," she said. "You gonna pay my bills? You gonna put food in my mouth? You gonna get me a place to live?"
Investigators eventually zeroed in on a white Dodge Challenger registered to Dalton Storms after talking to witnesses and looking at surveillance footage from the scene, police said.
Police found the car at Storms’ Franklinville, New Jersey, home. A court-authorized search of the car turned up clues linked to the hit-and-run, police said.
Investigators determined, in part thanks to a passenger in the sports car, that Storms was the driver at the time of the crash, police said. But, they have not been able to track down the 21-year-old.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Storms on charges including aggravated assault, leaving the scene of a crash and endangerment.
