Police are crediting a father and son with catching a hit-and-run suspect in New Haven, Connecticut, on Monday night.
Sajjad Chaudhary and his son, Ali, chased down 46-year-old David Diaz after Diaz drove into a woman crossing the street at the intersection of Whalley Avenue and Sherman Avenue around 7:30 p.m., according to police.
A video shot by Sajjad Chaudhary shows Diaz outside his car in a parking lot on County Street.
The father and son stopped Diaz and forced him to stay put until police arrived, according to authorities.
"Do not move, do not move. Put the hands up there," Sajjad can be heard saying in the video.
The Chaudharys work near the scene of the crash.
"I seen the lady, she go into the air and fly like a couple of turns and she dropped the body on the ground, and instantly my brain take a right turn," Sajjad Chaudhary said.
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According to police, Diaz sped away. The father and son followed him and were eventually able to make him stop his car.
"When he got out of the car, I grabbed his keys and then we just held him there until the cops came," Ali Chaudhary said.
They called 911 and police arrived to take Diaz into custody.
"His commands to the suspect were spot on. This guy should certainly apply to be a police officer," said New Haven police spokesman Officer David Hartman. "If not, maybe we'll offer him a job training."
Diaz admitted to officers that he had smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine earlier in the day, police said. They are awaiting test results to confirm what was in his system.
Diaz, whose speech appears slurred, can be heard on video saying he didn't do anything wrong.
"I didn't kill nobody," he said. "She got in my way."
He is charged with second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, operating under the influence and evading. Information on an attorney for Diaz was not immediately available.
The woman Diaz struck was transported to the hospital and immediately underwent surgery. She is improving and is expected to recover, police said.
"I am glad she make it because the way he hit her, looked like to me like maybe she's not gonna make it," Sajjad Chaudhary said.
