HOPKINTON, Mass. — 36-year-old Ryan Sweatt was arraigned Friday in Framingham District Court, charged with running down a woman in his car in Hopkinton Thursday night.
Police allege it was a case of road rage, and it took place on Hayden Rowe Street in front of Cornell’s Irish Pub just after 6 p.m.
Authorities have not named the victim, but on Facebook, her mother identified her as 26-year-old Destini Decoff.
She wrote that her daughter is in the hospital, not responsive, and is fighting for her life.
“I feel in my heart she can hear me…she is hurt everywhere…if anyone can fight thru this it absolutely is Destini,” Decoff wrote in her post. “I’m truly at a loss for words besides keep my daughter in your thoughts.”
Police say Sweatt, driving a Honda, and a Toyota stopped in the middle of the street right in front of Cornell’s in a road rage incident.
After the two vehicles had stopped, people in the Toyota got out of the car.
Witnesses told police that instead of immediately driving away, Sweatt maneuvered his Honda through two U-Turns, and crashed right into Decoff, who was standing at the edge of the road.
“He could have kept going. He chose to turn around, chose to come back. He knew what he was doing when he went towards that girl,” witness Brett Martin said.
Brett Martin was inside Cornell’s, he ran outside to help, and he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I saw her come down crashing. I didn’t see her go up in the air. But I saw her come down, hit the pavement. It wasn’t good from there,” Martin said.
The force of this crash was so intense, it knocked the victim right out of her clothes.
Brett Martin said the first thing he did was to cover her up
“I tried not to cover her face. I didn’t know if she was breathing or not, I just wanted to cover her body. There was a lot of people around, out of her respect,” he said.
At the scene, Sweatt told police people had surrounded his car, and were yelling they were trying to kill him, and he was trying to get away.
Police say they recovered a knife.
At Cornell’s, police say surveillance camera clearly captured the entire incident.
Ryan Sweatt is facing several charges including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
He is ordered held without bail until a dangerousness hearing next week.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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