WASHINGTON (WJLA/CNN) – A good Samaritan is outraged after he said Metro D.C. police towed his car after he stopped to help people in a fatal car accident.
Benjamin Davis said he was punished for a good deed after he stopped to help in the crash that ended up killing a 21-year-old man and shutting down a highway in Washington, D.C.
He said his decision to help led to police impounding his car.
When the car in front of Davis went out of control, flipping into a ravine on the Suitland Parkway on Sunday night, he could’ve driven by – but he said he knew people needed help, so he stopped.
"The guy, he's hanging out the door, outside the passenger side door. So, I pulled him out," he said.
Davis managed to get the survivor out, but a second person in the car, 21-year-old Kyree Payne of Washington, D.C., died.
Davis, who lives in Baltimore and was on his way to work in D.C., told police everything he witnessed, and at first, was allowed to leave.
But when he was just a block away, Davis said he was pulled over by a D.C. police officer, and that’s when his nightmare began.
"He said, 'You're being detained because you were a witness to a vehicle where someone died, an accident where someone died,’" he said.
Davis said he was made to wait for about two hours and was harshly questioned before he claims a police supervisor told him his car was being impounded because he witnessed a fatal crash.
“I said, ‘What are you towing my vehicle for?’ He said, ‘Because you’re parked in an area where you’re not supposed to be parked at,’” Davis said. “I said, ‘Excuse me sir, your officer just pulled me over here. What are you talking about? I just left the scene where I just saved somebody’s life.'"
Because his driver’s license is active and his car is registered and insured, police gave him no citations.
Unfortunately for Davis, he will have to find a way to work because his car is still impounded.
"I don't know what those guys’ lives were, what they were into, but I got treated like a suspect and my car was stolen by the Metro Department police in D.C.," he said.
WJLA asked police why the car was taken, where the car is now and when Davis is getting it back. They haven’t received answers yet.
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