‘It’s heartbreaking:’ Woman who helped pedestrian assaulted on crosswalk shares her story
By Marc Liverman
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — A woman who rushed in to help a pedestrian suffering fatal injuries after getting pushed at a crosswalk last month is now sharing her story publicly for the first time.
Wendy Harmon spoke, at times with tears in her eyes, with News 13 on Friday, March 15 — one day after authorities confirmed the pedestrian had died.
The Feb. 29 incident was caught on camera. Surveillance video shows a man passing in front of a white vehicle that was stopped in the crosswalk, blocking it, on Haywood Road near Craven Street. He tapped the front of it and kept walking.
“The other individual had exited the SUV and followed him to the sidewalk and shoved him face down from behind,” said Harmon, adding that she remembers the sound of the man’s head hitting the pavement.
Harmon was at work across the street. As soon as she saw what happened, she ran over to try and help.
“His face was very purple in color and he was actually spitting up clots of blood,” she explained.
Harmon said blood was pooling around the man’s head, so she and another witness used what they could to try and stop the bleeding.
She explained that the man was lying face down. He was breathing, but mostly silent, except when he spoke once to Harmon.
Harmon said she stuck around working as hard as she could to help Greg until an ambulance got there and rushed him to the hospital.
Video released by APD shows the suspect, now identified as Tyler Coenraads, run back to the passenger side of the vehicle after the assault and then the vehicle sped off.
“As I was coming across to get them to stop and to stay, he entered the vehicle and they fled the scene,” Harmon recalled.
Police confirmed that the victim sustained severe head trauma, saying that he died at the hospital. The state medical examiner is still working to complete its report on whether the injuries sustained by the victim caused his death.
Just over a week after the incident, police say Coenraads turned himself in. So far, he’s been charged with assault inflicting serious bodily injury.
But depending on the medical examiner’s final report, Coenraads could be facing more serious charges once the investigation is complete.
Harmon explained that she’s seen the victim in this area in the past and she is grieving his loss as she relives those horrific moments.
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