A man was found in critical condition inside a car at Busy Bee Auto Parts and Towing, six hours after the vehicle was reported in a crash and towed from the scene.
“I towed a car last night. I went to go take care of the lot, this guy’s still in his vehicle,” a worker from the business told emergency dispatchers around 9 a.m. Thursday. “He’s in the car, but I towed the car last night, and I didn’t see nothing in it, but it was dark.”
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the crash around 3 a.m. New Year’s Day. Dispatch records indicated that deputies and other emergency personnel failed to locate an occupant of the vehicle, which crashed into a utility pole in front of Willowview Cemetery.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know if this guy came back to his car and climbed in it,” the 911 caller said.
The crash scene was about 500 feet from the Busy Bee Auto Parts and Towing, but deputies are not able to confirm whether the man was in the vehicle when it was towed or if he returned to the vehicle after it was towed to the business.
“It’s still an ongoing and very fluid investigation,” said Montgomery County Sheriff’s Capt. Jeremy Roy. “Our crews, along with Harrison Township fire, were looking all around the cemetery.”
It could be 30 to 45 days until investigators know exactly how the man ended up in the vehicle at the tow yard, but Roy said it appeared he yelled for help when workers opened a door while the car, a Chevrolet Impala, was on a flatbed truck at the business.
“If this is a case where somebody was missed, it’s usually due to a crash involved in a rollover, possibly an ejection, where you’re not really sure where that person is,” Roy said. “We will conduct our full investigation. If we feel there is some issues, or proper protocol or procedures weren’t followed, then we will open up an internal investigation.”
Roy said the victim was found along the front floorboard of the vehicle.
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