Connections

I want to be connected to everything I feel, sense, experience. Everything.

 

I want to have compassion for everything and everyone I encounter.

 

And may God Himself strike me down if I am ever this insensitive.

 

I don't care if you felt "uncomfortable." Get off your ass and help the man...

 

^BY STEPHEN SINGER=
^Associated Press Writer=

   HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Police released chilling surveillance
video of a hit-and-run accident in hopes of catching the
unidientified driver who ran down a 78-year-old pedestrian,
paralyzing him, and to show the callousness of bystanders who did
nothing to help.
   The gripping one-minute video shows the violent May 30 accident
and bystanders' apparent lack of sympathy. No one rushes to Angel
Arce Torres' aid, and no one bothers to stop traffic as Torres lays
motionless in the street.
   In the video, released by police Wednesday, Torres walks in the
two-way street at 5:45 p.m. after buying milk at a local grocery.
He is struck by a dark Honda that was chasing a tan Toyota. Both
cars dart down a side street as Torres crumples to the pavement.
   Several cars pass Torres as a few people stare from the
sidewalk. Some approach Torres, but most stay put until a police
cruiser responding to an unrelated call arrives on the scene.
   Police suggested the video shows a city that has lost its moral
compass.
   ``At the end of the day we've got to look at ourselves and
understand that our moral values have now changed.'' Police Chief
Daryl Roberts said. ``We have no regard for each other.''
   Torres is paralyzed and remains in critical condition in
Hartford Hospital.
   His son, Angel Arce, begged the public for help.
   ``My father is fighting for his life,'' Arce said. ``I would
like the public right now to help us in identifying the car and the
person that did this.''
   Robert Luna, who works at a nearby store, blamed witnesses for
failing to help Torres. ``It took too long to call police,'' he
said Thursday. ``Nobody did nothing.''
   Witness Bryant Hayre said he didn't feel comfortable helping
Torres, who he said was bleeding and conscious.
   ``Whoever did this should be sent away for a long time,'' Hayre
told The Hartford Courant. ``It was as if he was a dog left in the
street to die.''