Shocking CCTV clip shows Texas teen mowing down and dragging man in wheelchair despite him signaling to stop
Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised
AUSTIN, TEXAS: Everything is bigger in Texas, and unfortunately, that applies to the level of crime too. A 17-year-old Texas teenager has been arrested after he allegedly ran over a man in a wheelchair and fled the scene. Pablo Antonio Avila-Banagas was booked into Travis County Jail on Friday, September 9, on charges that include failure to stop and render aid, injury to a disabled person, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Banagas' arrest came six days after he was caught on camera plowing over a man in an electric wheelchair on the morning of September 3.
The Austin Police Department released surveillance footage of the incident, which occurred shortly before 10 am in a parking lot on North Lamar Boulevard. In the footage, a man in a power wheelchair can be seen slowly crossing the parking lot. When a white truck speeds into the frame, the man can be seen waving his arm for the driver to slow down
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However, instead of slowing down, the driver runs over the man, dragging him from the parking lot into the road. The footage continues to show the man and his wheelchair both being dragged under the wheels of the car and out onto the main road as no brake lights can be seen. Debris from the chair is then littered across the parking lot as the driver of the pickup strikes the curb. Within moments, the emergency services are on the scene as the crew of a passing Austin FD firetruck saw what was happening before them and immediately came to a stop to give first aid.
Arrest Made in Hit and Run in the Parking Lot of 9200 N Lamar Blvd - https://t.co/V91b9fxh9r pic.twitter.com/ordcJqUwm6
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) September 12, 2022
According to Austin Police Department, the victim was left with severe, life-threatening injuries. Police say the investigation remains ongoing, Daily Mail reported.
MEAWW previously reported that Ryanair, an airline that makes the headlines for all the bad reasons, kicked out a boy with a disability that requires him to have his electric wheelchair with him. Noah Cunningham, from Southport, Lancashire, was ready to fly from the Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Rome on Thursday, April 7, with his brother and two caregivers with the money he had saved up from his 18th birthday celebrations. They kicked him out after he had boarded the flight, saying that the electric wheelchair could potentially "ruin the plane." Noah's mum, Vicki Cunningham, said that this was her son's "dream trip" and the way in which it was taken away was nothing short of a "humiliation." This happened when the staff on the flight clearly said no to loading Noah's electric wheelchair on the flight despite knowing that he had already boarded the plane.