Good Samaritan recovers after being hit by car

James Coleman didn’t know what he would find when he kneeled down by an overturned SUV blocking the right lane on Va. 234 south just before daybreak nearly two weeks ago.

All the 57-year-old from Dale City said he knew was that someone could be hurt and he needed to help.
Moments after walking over to the SUV with a flashlight in hand, Coleman was thrown into the woods nearby when a 1995 Infiniti J30 crashed into the back of the flipped Chevrolet Blazer.

Among his injuries, Coleman’s ribs and collarbone were cracked on the left side of his body, and he required reconstructive to the left side of his face.

“By the grace of God, I’m living,” Coleman said, sitting at the dining room table in his town house he shares with his longtime girlfriend,  Joann Washington, 56, on Wednesday afternoon. “It could’ve gone the other way.”

The accident happened around 4:22 a.m. March 2 on Va. 234 near Longtree Road in the Lake Jackson area, Prince William County police said.

And the driver of the SUV, unbeknownst to Coleman and other bystanders, had fled the scene, police said.
“I don’t remember feeling pain at the time,” Coleman said.

He only remembers a paramedic standing over him, asking if he knew his name and what day it was, and then the cold air he felt as he was being strapped to a gurney.

Coleman was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he stayed for close to a week.
“They did a good job taking care of me,” he said.

Coleman, who on that Sunday morning was driving back from Charles Town, W.Va., with Washington, will be in a neck brace for at least another four to six weeks, has multiple doctor appointments for checkups and has no idea when his ribs will heal.

For the past 15 years, he’s worked as a mover for a local moving company but now has no idea whether he’ll be able to return to such a labor-intensive job.

For now, he’s using the three weeks of vacation he has and Washington said she she’s doing everything she can to make sure the mortgage gets paid.

Despite the physical and financial pains the accident has caused the two, Coleman said he doesn’t begrudge anybody and said that even now he wouldn’t do anything differently.

If he or someone he loved were to ever be trapped in a car, Coleman said he would hope someone would do the same.
“That’s just his nature,” Washington said. “He’s the type that needs to stop and help.”

On Tuesday, the driver of the overturned SUV, 44-year-old Scott Glenn Smith of 13402 Gordon Drive in the Hoadly area, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it — a Class 1 misdemeanor — and having no liability insurance, said Officer Erika Hernandez, Prince William police spokeswoman.

He was held in lieu of a $10,000 bond and has an April 16 court date, Hernandez said.
The driver of the Infiniti, Keith L. Hawkins, 38, of 3659 Morgan Court in Dumfries, was charged Monday with driving under the influence — a Class 1 misdemeanor, Hernandez said.

He was held in lieu of a $2,000 bond and also has an April 16 court date, police said.

Hawkins was taken to a local hospital that night with non life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.

Coleman and Washington said they are currently looking into what legal recourse is available.

Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062 or .