president obama, the first family, as well as former president george w. bush just crossed the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama. a symbolic action to mark the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday when civil rights activists were beaten by police trying to march to montgomery. before that, the president gave a passionate speech noting much progress made in the past half censutury since that day but saying race still casts its long shadow on america. back to caught on camera. in texas, a tow truck driver and young father-to-be fears for his life, wondering if this is the end. january 24th, 2010. 21-year-old edward wiley makes his usual rounds, just after midnight at an apartment complex in southeast houston.
be waiting inside to move it. no one is there. what he finds, instead, is a barking dog outside the pickup that seems to be protecting it. edward takes photos of the pickup to document its license plate and its infraction inside the fire lane. that way, he can submit both as evidence to support the $70 fine the driver must eventually pay to retrieve his vehicle. but with a pickup truck that big, edward will need more time to remove it than he would towing a smaller car. edward s tow truck is big enough to handle the f-250, but because the ford is a rear-wheel drive, its back wheels are locked in park, so edward can t tow the truck very far with its back wheels fixed in place. and with the tow lot four miles away, he won t make it. so first he ll have to tow it out by its front wheels to release it, and lift it again by its back wheels to tow it away from the complex.
get the [ bleep ] out of here! don t [ bleep ] truck [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. when the bottle thrower gets inside the ford f-250 and starts it, edward lifts the pickup off the ground. then, without warning, the man opens his door, aims a gun, and fires at edward. four shots, all four hitting the tow truck, two of them actually penetrating the cab, the back of the cab, and almost hitting edward. he was, he was not shot, you know. i mean, thank god. he was very lucky, i would have to say. i mean, obviously, someone was looking over him. losing no time, the veteran driver is able to release the truck using the remote control with one hand while putting the truck into dive with the other. his ability to react with the situation having bullets flying
what he finds, instead, is a barking dog outside the pickup that seems to be protecting it. edward takes photos of the pickup to document its license plate and its infraction inside the fire lane. that way, he can submit both as evidence to support the $70 fine the driver must eventually pay to retrieve his vehicle. but with a pickup truck that big, edward will need more time to remove it than he would towing a smaller car. edward s tow truck is big enough to handle the f-250, but because the ford is a rear-wheel drive, its back wheels are locked in park, so edward can t tow the truck very far with its back wheels fixed in place. and with the tow lot four miles away, he won t make it. so first he ll have to tow it out by its front wheels to release it, and lift it again by its back wheels to tow it away from the complex. his first attempt to lift the heavy pickup doesn t work.
not just that, but in the rear, or in the back end of his driver s seat, there s actually a cross bar that s only, say, 2 inches wide in that whole seat, and the bullet did hit that cross bar and ricocheted down. so with that bar being in place, i would say that also saved his life, right there. also, if edward had been just a few inches taller, a second bullet penetrating the passenger seat could have hit his head when he leaned over. unarmed, edward floors it and dials hoffmeister to report the incident. but now he s got another problem. because the wheels of his tow truck were pointing left when he hit the gas, he was forced into a dead end. to exit the complex, he must first circle past the place where the shooter tried to kill him moments earlier. luckily, the armed man has already fled the scene in the f-250. edwards luck holds out.