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Driver ‘deliberately’ hits man, then posts the video to Instagram, Michigan cops say

Detroit police are searching for the person accused of hitting a man with their car and posting a video of it to Instagram.
Detroit police are searching for the person accused of hitting a man with their car and posting a video of it to Instagram. Photo by Marlon Lara via Unsplash

What initially looked like a hit-and-run turned out to be a targeted stunt for social media, Michigan police said.

Detroit police arrived at the scene Aug. 1 and said they found a man with two broken legs on the side of the road. Officers thought it was an accident until they found a video on Instagram, 7th precinct Commander John Svec said in a video news conference.

The video was filmed from inside the vehicle, Svec said, and it showed the steering wheel and the front of the vehicle but not the driver.

The driver swerved to “deliberately” hit a man walking along the side of the street as the driver cruised along an empty road, according to Svec.

“Hurting someone you probably don’t even know for no reason whatsoever just for some attention on social media (is) pretty disgusting,” Svec said.

While police believe this is an “isolated” incident and not part of a larger social media trend, Svec said he has never seen anything this “extreme” for social media.

Police said they are submitting warrants to learn who posted the video. They are also asking the person accused of hitting the man to turn themselves in.

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This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Driver ‘deliberately’ hits man, then posts the video to Instagram, Michigan cops say."

Kate Linderman
mcclatchy-newsroom
Kate Linderman covers national news for McClatchy’s real-time team. She reports on politics and crime and courts news in the Midwest. Kate is a 2023 graduate of DePaul University and is based in Chicago.
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