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SANDY — Police are asking for help in locating the driver in a hit-and-run that sent a Sandy mother and her teenage daughter to the hospital.
Jocelyn Peirce and her 16-year-old daughter, Madalyn, were walking north in the shoulder, where a small stretch of sidewalk doesn't exist in the area of 1700 E. 11490 South Saturday morning when, about 8:20 a.m., they were hit from behind.
"My wife glanced around and saw a car and she didn't think anything of it until she glanced again and thought that car is coming at us and not stopping," said Sherman Peirce. "My daughter heard a scream that came from my wife, and the next thing they knew they were laying on the ground."
The driver of the vehicle didn't stop to help the women, who were injured and briefly knocked unconscious.
"I don't know how you leave two people lying on the ground and just drive away," Sherman Peirce said.
Sherman Peirce says his wife suffered a skull fracture and spent two days in the intensive care unit. After being transported to the hospital, Madalyn walked away with bumps and bruises and stitches to her head.
"I could have lost them, my wife and my daughter, in one minute," Sherman Peirce said.
The vehicle in question
Sandy police are now looking for the white car that fled the scene and say it will likely have damage.
"Somebody knows something," said Sgt. Greg Moffitt with the Sandy Police Department. "The injuries that were sustained, I can't imagine there isn't at least some sort of damage to the vehicle; there's got to be a dent or something in the hood."
Police have gone door to door along 1700 East and have so far located only one doorbell security video that shows three white cars in the area around the time of the hit-and-run; unfortunately, the video quality doesn't provide investigators with a good lead.
"It's really hard in that video to say what the make and model is," Moffitt said.
Police are asking residents not only along 1700 East to check their cameras, but residents in the surrounding neighborhoods as well.
"You're going to be looking for someone that is trying to get out of the area quickly, or perhaps they got down the street a little way, stopped, got out of their car and looked to see if they had any damage, got back in and drove away," Moffitt said. "We're looking for anything that seems odd during that period of time."
Sandy police say all tips can remain anonymous; anyone with information can call 801-568-INFO.
"We're really hoping someone saw something, someone knows something," Moffitt said.
Sherman Peirce says he hopes the driver is held responsible, but ultimately, is just thankful his wife and daughter are alive.
"This could have been so much worse, and I cannot share how grateful I am that this was not as bad as it could have been," he said.
