‘Slow down and move over': Tow truck driver injured in Reading hit-and-run

A tow truck driver was hit by an SUV in Reading, Massachusetts, this week while his vehicle was parked near a school, and the driver didn't stop.

Reading police have found the driver, an elderly woman, and are asking the RMV to check if she's still competent to have a driver's license.

The hit-and-run happened Tuesday on King Street, right across from a local school. The driver, 22-year-old John Koval, said he's lucky to be alive.

"I keep a picture of my family, actually, in my tow truck, and I never thought I'd ever have to look up at it, I'd need it," he said. "But I was happy it was in the truck on Tuesday."

Koval, a tow truck operator at Murray's Towing in Woburn, said he turned on his lights and then got out of his truck to help a man change his tire.

Shortly after, he said, a woman in a white SUV, frustrated by the delay, accelerated straight toward him.

"Next thing I know, I hear a beep. I look over my left shoulder and started to hear a horn lay, and gas pedal, and -- right through me," he explained. "I saw her look in the mirror and take right off."

A police report states that the passenger side mirror of a white Honda CRV hit Koval in the back, knocking him into the vehicle on which he was working.

Koval-old was taken to the hospital by ambulance with an injured back and chest.

Neighbors like Cheryl Collins saw the aftermath of the incident.

"The first thing I probably noticed was the ambulance and the fire truck," said Collins. "I can't imagine anybody not stopping."

According to the police report, officers interviewed a woman nearby who owned a vehicle matching a description of the one that sped off.

After her interview with police, they wrote the following:

"She stated that she drove through that small passing approximately in the same time frame. She states that she did not hear, feel or see anyone get hit with her car. She states that she doesn't remember going through there but it could've happened."

The driver was identified and she said she was unaware that her mirror hit the tow truck driver, Reading police said Friday. They filed a request with the RMV to have the SUV's driver, who wasn't identified, re-evaluated for competence, but the incident didn't rise to the level of filing a criminal charge.

Koval said he wants the incident to be a reminder to all drivers on the road.

"I know it's an inconvenience when tow trucks and emergency vehicles are in the road, but everybody is somebody's kid, everybody's somebody's brother, sister," he said. "I feel like the best thing to do is anytime you see any kind of lights that are flashing at you, is slow down and move over."