Appeal for key witness after hit and run attack
POLICE have released a photo of a woman they believe may have witnessed a hit and run in Burton town centre that left a man with potentially life changing injuries.
Staffordshire Police want to speak to the woman in relation to the incident which happened on Friday, October 15, in Station Street when a car is believed to have been driven at a group of people in the pedestrianised area of the town centre on purpose.
Officers were initially called at 3am following reports of public order offences.
On arrival, officers suspected a vehicle had been deliberately driven at the group in Burton town centre, close to Mcdonald’s restaurant in the usually pedestrianised section of the street, a spokesman for the police said.
A man, aged 34, from the Burton area, was found with serious injuries to his legs which were said to be potentially life-changing and he was taken to hospital by the ambulance service.
The man is now in a stable condition. Police have said they detained three men a short time after the incident, which is believed to have involved a black Ford Fiesta. The three men, aged 22, another aged 21 and one aged 19, all from the Derby area, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
They have all since been released on conditional police bail while enquiries continue.
Officers suspect the injured man was “merely in the wrong place at the wrong time” and currently say there is no known motive for the collision, the spokesman added.
An area of Station Street was cordoned off and closed from the former Burton’s menswear store, near the entrance to Coopers Square shopping centre, past the Mcdonald’s to Explicit Clothing until around 10.30am on the Friday as police carried out their investigation.
Shops opening early that morning were initially told to stay closed by police as they carried out their investigation at the scene of the incident. Those working in businesses near to where the incident happened told of their shock when they arrived at work to find they could not open and police were outside.
Gemma Wylie, of Cashino, said Station Street was cordoned off and as staff arrived workers from Mcdonald’s stopped them at the bottom of the road to tell them what had happened.
Anyone who recognises the woman in the images or may have seen her around the time of the collision, is asked to message Staffordshire Police on Facebook or Twitter quoting incident number 058 of October 15, call 101 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.