A Texas father (and grandfather) died after jumping on the top of his moving SUV in an attempt to stop it it from being towed away by a repo man.
The repo man has been arrested.
via NYDN:
Alberto Nduli was awakened around 7 a.m. Thursday morning to a banging on the front door of his home in Southwest Houston. He opened it to find one of his neighbors, who was trying to warn him that a wrecker driver — later identified by police as Oliver Harrison — was trying to haul off his vehicle, WYFF reported.
Nduli’s sister-in-law, Patricia Malewo, said the 68-year-old Congolese native rushed outside to confront Harrison and tried to tell him the tow was a mistake. His vehicle at the time had been parked in its assigned spot outside the complex on S. Gessner Road, she said.
Harrison however, remained unconvinced and started to drive off, prompting Nduli to jump onto the SUV while it was attached to the tow truck, said Houston Police Department Capt. KJ Deese.
Family members told the Houston Chronicle Harrison appeared to gun his engine to shake Nduli from the top of the vehicle. Nduli eventually lost grip of his SUV and was fatally injured after falling hard onto the concrete street.
The 33-year-old driver, meanwhile, continued on the job, dropping off the vehicle at a storage lot before returning to the scene at the request of law enforcement.
Harrison was arrested and hit with a charge of failure to stop and render aid — a felony which can carry a 20-year sentence.
He left the scene by his own admission,” Assistant District Attorney Sean Teare said.
“He knew there was an altercation, he knew the owner of the vehicle was there, was involved in a crash. Whether or not he knew that the individual lost his life really is immaterial as to whether or not there’s a failure to stop and render aid charges.”
Nduli, who worked as a security guard, had lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. He was a husband, father of seven and grandfather.
Harrison is slated to appear in court on Monday.
Jumping on cars at 68-years-old? We admire his tenacity, but it’s unfortunate that it cost him his life.
