Family Seeks Answers In Hit And Run

A Tulsa man is in great pain and faces a long, hard road back to a normal life, after being the victim of a hit and run accident.  The News On 6's crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports Virgle  Smith is 57.  He's a shy, private person, the father of four children and a handy man by trade.

He'd wanted to get a motorcycle for some time, partly for the fun and partly for the gas mileage.  He'd just bought his bike and was so proud of it, but then, someone crashed into him from behind.  Now, the man who works with his hands can't even feed himself or get dressed.

Virgle Smith is an outdoorsman, who loves to fish.  He was on his way to a relative's house on Saturday morning around 9:30 on I-244, near Detroit.  He tells his family he remembers getting hit from behind.

OHP troopers say the impact from the car threw Virgle 186 feet.

The driver never even stopped to see if Virgle was dead or alive or to call for help.

"He has head injuries, neck, right shoulder blade is broken, right shoulder broken, wrist, no use of his arms whatsoever or his hands. He has broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung," said Virgle's niece, Sandi Pryor.

Pryor says her uncle is in a tremendous amount of pain and someone will have to take care of him for months before he'll be able to do simple things again or take care of himself or work.  He doesn't have medical insurance so the mounting medical bills are another big concern.

"As soon as I walked in the first time and saw him, I wanted to cry and when I found out it was hit and run, they left.  After I saw the pain he was in, I was so mad. I'm not stopping. I'm going to do everything in my power to help him," said Virgle's niece, Sandi Pryor.

First, they want the driver who did this caught.  Troopers found car parts at the scene that belong to a white, 2000 to 2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue.  It would be damaged on the front passenger quarter panel.

"It's not right.  It's not right. We just want the person to stand up and admit it," said Virgle's niece, Sandi Pryor.

Second, the family has set up a website or you can mail donations to TMEFCU, Virgle's Relief Fund, 1120 W. 17th Street, Tulsa, Ok. 74107.

If anyone saw the accident on July 5^th or knows where the damaged Olds Intrigue is, they should call Crimestoppers at 596-COPS.