Mom takes matters into own hands after car hits tree

    CLEVELAND (WEWS) -- A mom took matters into her own hands after a man crashed into a tree and walked away.

It happened Friday evening on West 38th Street and Detroit Avenue in Ohio City.

Anne Hartnett saw the aftermath and believed the driver had been drinking.

She now questions a delay in the response by Cleveland police.

Police told News 5 Investigators the delayed response is now under review.

It may have been adrenaline or a sense felt by being a mom or both to follow the driver after the crash.

“We got in the van. I wanted to update the police on this guy’s whereabouts,” Hartnett said.

Hartnett heard the crash and when she came out of her house, she saw a Ford Focus into a tree with airbags deployed.

“Kind of kept my distance and said 'Are you okay?' after I saw the individual that had been driving get out of the vehicle,” Hartnett said.

She was first concerned about the driver’s well-being. But when the man walked away, she followed in her minivan down Detroit Avenue.

“It was about at that moment that I realized this person was leaving the scene of the crash,” Hartnett said.

Hartnett made the first of three 911 calls just before 7 p.m. that night. She says while keeping a safe distance from the driver, she noticed another mom in a minivan watching, too.

“And while I was calling I saw the other mom was doing the same thing in her minivan a block away so the two of us are kind of just giving play by play,” Hartnett said.

The two moms started comparing notes.

“He nearly crashed into her and her family and he was driving in the bike lane all down Detroit where dust was up and he was hitting the bike lane pillars which is when he turned onto 38th,” Hartnett said.

Hartnett says the man waited at a bus stop, popped into a beverage store, missed his bus and then went into a restaurant where a friend picked him up and returned him to the scene.

She says her husband told the two men they shouldn’t leave.

"They said, 'Don’t worry about it, tow truck’s coming.'"

Saw that they removed some items from the vehicle, some liquor bottles and some other paraphernalia out of the car,” Hartnett said.

The couple kept the tow truck from taking away the car before police finally got there.

When her adrenaline settled down later, Hartnett says she felt less safe because of the delayed police response.

News 5 Investigators asked if she would do it all over again.

“I would you know this is our home, this is our community I have four children, that mom had three I don’t even know her name, we just kind of like parted ways when we got the license plate,” Hartnett said.

She thinks about what could have happened on what was a beautiful Friday evening with her kids playing outside.

“I think it’s like a testament to how much moms do to actually keep our community safe you know regardless of response time of police it’s important in a community like this we’re looking out for each other and helping mitigate crime,” Hartnett said.

Police tell News 5 Investigators the call was initially coded as a lower priority and then later upgraded.

Police do have the car and know the car’s owner.

The accident investigation unit is investigating, but so far, no one has been ticketed.