Houston club valet launched 90 feet in hit-and-run calls driver 'pure evilness'
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The man who was violently hit by a truck while he was working as a valet on Thanksgiving is out of the hospital and hoping for justice.
"What he (the driver) did was definitely intentional, and he just fled after that, so I'm really hoping police can catch him, and he can take responsibility for what he did," Novick Ondo Ngombi told ABC13 on Tuesday. "Because, on the video, it's not only me, but it also could have been my friend."
According to the Houston Police Department, the crash happened in the 3300 block of Kelton Street near Old Spanish Trail in southeast Houston at about 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 23.
Witnesses told police the pickup truck driver was upset because he claimed someone broke into his truck and believed valets from a nearby club knew who it was.
A video shared only with ABC13 captured what happened next.
As Ondo Ngombi and another valet were walking away, the truck drove right at them and kept going after impact, the video shows. Ondo Ngombi was hit. The impact was so hard that it launched him 90 feet, where he landed in someone's front yard.
"I could have died. I could be dead right now," the 23-year-old said as he sat on his couch in southwest Houston. "That's kind of pure evilness, you know."
Ondo Ngombi suffered multiple breaks to his right arm, fractures in his face, and several other severe bruises to his head and body. He spent five days in the hospital and was released Monday.
"Really lucky, by the grace of God. So yeah, I'm really lucky I'm still here," the TSU student from Gabon, on the west-central African coast, said.
He added that he was not surprised he had become a hit-and-run victim "because this is America" and "stuff like this happens here."
According to the video, the suspect's vehicle is a large pickup truck with a light bar on top. Houston police are investigating.
Anyone with information about the truck or the driver is urged to contact HPD's Major Assaults Unit at 713-308-1100.
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