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Woman files lawsuit against man who fled the scene of an injury accident

Posted at 4:08 PM, Dec 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-09 17:08:45-05

A woman, crushed by a police cruiser in a bizarre hit-and-run, speaks for the first time.

Still in agony from a shattered pelvis and broken bones, Sharae McMinn is prepared for battle and filing a lawsuit against the man she said is responsible for her injuries.

McMinn said seeing herself smashed between two cars was enough to put her in fight mode. We've shown you the shocking video, the same day McMinn saw it while laying in her hospital bed.

As it appeared on her TV screen, she said she went into a panic, and realized someone needed to pay.

It was a horrifying incident caught on tape.

McMinn was pulled over for a faulty tail light. An officer asked her to get out of her car for questioning. She did as she was asked, but then out of nowhere, a truck came barreling toward the scene, striking the squad car.

Video shows the patrol car leaping forward, hitting McMinn, and pinning her against her own vehicle.

But McMinn said she doesn't need to see the footage to remember the moment she saw her life flash before her.

"It was definitely the most traumatizing emotional experience I have ever been through," McMinn said.

The flashing lights, the police, the screaming and the pain, forever burned into her mind.

"Even though my body will heal, I don't think my mind will," McMinn said. "I don't think I'll be able to get it out of my head."

On Friday, she spoke about her incident for the first time after spending nearly a month in the hospital.

She struggles with knowing the man accused of doing this to her, Johnie Hunter, bonded out of jail and is only charged with fleeing the scene of an injury accident.

"He's free and I'm not," McMinn said.

Confined to a wheelchair for now, McMInn said she's filing a lawsuit to prove Hunter was intoxicated.

Attorneys are still gathering evidence, but McMinn's friends and supporters found posts under a Facebook account with Hunter's face and name. He was checking in at multiple bars, claiming he was drinking.

Those posts went on for hours, just before McMinn's nightmare.

"[He] intentionally left the scene of the accident after he hit her, and went home," Lori Rogers, McMinn's attorney said. "And the accident report says they found him with an open container drinking alcohol, so he may have benefited from the scene of the accident by avoiding a DUI."

Rogers said a breathalyzer at that point is invalid, and couldn't prove if Hunter drank alcohol before the accident.

2 Works for You reached out to Hunter for comment, however he has yet to return our phone call.

Meanwhile, McMinn said she'll continue to fight and focus on her health.

"Now I feel like the problems I used to have were petty, but I'm lucky to be here."

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