Man, Clinging to Driver’s Hair and Her Car, Nearly Crushed to Death in Collision

A man is now being treated in a hospital after he was nearly crushed between two cars that collided on Paloma Street and Sierra Madre Blvd. in Pasadena Monday morning.

Seriously injured, the man may be arrested as soon as he is ready to get out of the hospital, as police say he might have been at fault.

Pasadena police Lt. Pete Hettema, Watch Commander, said what they initially thought was a traffic collision report turned out to be a domestic violence issue between the injured man and a woman who drove one of the vehicles involved in the collision.

The incident occurred at around 9 a.m.

Hettema said their investigation showed the injured man and the woman had children together and were involved in an argument at their child’s school right before to this incident.

“When the man became verbally aggressive towards the woman, she tried to leave in her vehicle, but the man grabbed her hair through the window of the car and held onto the post between the front and back windows as she tried to drive away,” Hettema related. “She drove eastbound on Paloma Street and struck a vehicle that was southbound on Sierra Madre Blvd., causing injuries to the suspect.”

Hettema said the couple’s five-year-old child was in the backseat of the woman’s vehicle during the incident but was not injured. The woman also did not suffer serious injuries.

“Basically we have a very serious injury to this guy who was almost crushed between the two cars. He was hanging on the side of the car about a block and a half as she was driving away, screaming at her and pulling her hair and so forth,” Hettema continued, referring to the man as a suspect.

“He’s still in very serious condition in the hospital from what we hear,” the officer said. “He will be charged after the hospital’s done with him. We will charge him with domestic violence, spousal abuse, as well as probably child endangerment for putting a five-year-old through that.”

Anyone with information about the incident is advised to call the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241.