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Chief: 'We No Longer Have Moral Compass'

Video Captures Bystanders Gawking At Hit-And-Run Victim

POSTED: 5:37 pm EDT June 4, 2008
UPDATED: 4:04 pm EDT June 6, 2008

Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts questioned the city's "moral compass" a week after bystanders and drivers maneuvered around the motionless body of 78-year-old victim of a hit-and-run crash.

Angel Torres was crossing Park Street after purchasing milk from a local grocery store on Friday evening when he was struck. Police said Torres was hit by a dark Honda that was chasing a tan Toyota.

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Both vehicles then fled the scene, leaving Torres lying in the roadway's lane of oncoming traffic.

Surveillance video captured the crash and the startling response of witnesses.

The video captures Torres being thrown like a rag-doll by the car, which crossed the double yellow line before hitting Torres.

Roberts said that perhaps the most shocking part of the crime is the response it garnered from bystanders.

Nearly a dozen cars are seen driving around Torres' motionless body in the minute and 30-second long video, including one that stops and turns around as it approaches him.

"No one came to his aid," Roberts said. "There were actually people looking at him … and driving away."

Numerous pedestrian bystanders are seen gawking at the scene, but doing nothing.

"At the end of the day we've got to look at ourselves and understand that our moral values have now changed," Roberts said. "We have no regard for each other."

Police said Torres was found lying in the road by an officer responding to an unrelated call. He was transported to Hartford Hospital and is paralyzed from the neck down. He remained in critical condition on Thursday.

Police released the video on Wednesday in hopes that it will help lead to an arrest.

"My father is fighting for his life," said Torres' son, Angel Arce. "I would like the public right now to help us in identifying the car and the person that did this."

Roberts said the hit-and-run is the latest in a string of incidents that show the callousness of the city.

On Monday, former Deputy Mayor Nicholas Carbone, 71, was beaten and robbed while walking to breakfast. He remains in critical condition. Read the full story

"There was a time they would have helped that man across the street. Now they mug and assault him," Roberts said. "That's not a police problem. We no longer have a moral compass. Anything goes."

Anyone with information regarding the crash is urged to contact the Hartford Police Department by dialing 860-757-4225.

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