SAXONBURG, Pa. — A teenager is home recovering tonight after he was run over by a U-Haul box truck twice.
It happened eleven days ago on Carol Drive in Saxonburg.
Nineteen-year-old Dominic Nelson tells Channel 11 he and his father were there to talk to their landlord, Dennis Wolff. Wolff was sitting in the driver’s seat of the U-Haul, and Dominic was in front of it. That’s when he stepped on the gas.
“Life can change in an instant,” Dominic said. “I’m so young. I have a lot of life ahead of me and I’m scared I won’t be able to do the things I love to do.”
He spoke to Channel 11 from a hospital bed set up in his mother’s living room.
“When I got hit, I tried to jump on the hood. I thought that would be better than going under.”
It didn’t work. He went under.
Police say Wolff stopped while Dominic was still under the truck, then drove forward, running him over a second time.
“That’s the part that really messes with me because he knew I was under the truck.”
Court paperwork states that Wolff then drove down the road, took Dominic’s hat off the hood of the truck, and threw it into the bushes. He then returned the U-Haul.
“I don’t know what made him do it, honestly. I never even thought the fact that I was in front of the U-Haul that he would even think of something like that. He was our landlord. We’d known him for years.”
Documents show that Wolff told police he thought he hit a bump, didn’t see anything in the mirrors, and kept going.
Dominic says he still has flashbacks when he tries to sleep.
His physical injuries are numerous. He broke multiple vertebrae in his spine, his hip, pelvis, tailbone, and all of his ribs.
He’s using a wheelchair and walker to get around and says he’s happy to still be here.
“I’m so glad I made it. I definitely have an angel looking out for me somewhere, that’s for sure.”
Wolff is out on bond and is due back in court on August 4th.
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