Motorcyclist's bag stolen after being injured in downtown Minneapolis hit-and-run
MINNEAPOLIS — Surveillance video shows a man on a motorcycle being tossed through the air earlier this month during a high-speed hit-and-run.
Carl Vargas was riding through downtown Minneapolis when a car blew through a red light, T-boning his motorcycle.
Miraculously, Vargas is alive and is expected to recover.
"By the grace of God, he survived due to the helmet," said Andy Meissner, Vargas's brother.
Vargas's family has spent hours canvassing the area to obtain video of the crash. It also shows what happened next.
Two people get out of the crashed car and immediately get into a second vehicle that had been trailing directly behind them.
"It's believed that the car was stolen and that another car was tailing them," said Victoria Nichols, Vargas's aunt.
They drove off, abandoning the first car, and now his family says Vargas is in the hospital with skull fractures, broken bones and brain bleeding.
"Every day I go in and visit, I'm just reminding him how the physical recovery is only part of the battle and that the mental side is the rest of it, and that's where he excels the most," Meissner said.
Vargas wasn't just the victim of a hit-and-run. While he was lying on the sidewalk, severely injured, someone on the street walked up and stole his bag.
Nichols says Vargas had everything in the bag, including his ID, credit cards and phone.
Vargas's family hopes someone who witnessed the crash can help, particularly one person seen in the surveillance video who looks to be recording everything, including the getaway car's license plate.
"We're just motivated to...figure out who did this to him to hold someone accountable," Nichols said.
Minneapolis police say they're investigating, but no one's been arrested.
"Hopefully we can get some exposure on this in a way that leads to justice for Carl," Meissner said.
