A car is a tool and a means to freedom. But it can, in the wrong hands, also serve as a deadly, destructive weapon. In a recent case, a Florida man ran his wife over with her own vehicle: a big, heavy Toyota Highlander. 

Police are searching for a crazed Florida man who stole his wife’s Toyota Highlander and ran her over repeatedly

Police officers with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to a distress call in the Pine Lakes neighborhood of Palm Coast. Tragically, this was no light matter.  

According to The Published Reporter, a US news source, a Florida man took the keys to his wife’s Toyota Highlander. Witnesses say they heard the Highlander’s engine revving before the suspect started moving. One witness told interviewers, “We heard screaming and saw headlights swerving– then it was chaos.” 

He struck his wife with the dark Toyota SUV repeatedly. It’s a substantial weapon, too. At the base LE AWD trim, a Highlander tips the scales at 4,155 lbs. Unfortunately, the 45-year-old Florida man escaped with the Toyota SUV.

As for the victim, she sustained fractures and internal injuries when the SUV struck her repeatedly. Emergency medical personnel airlifted her to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.   

Sheriff Rick Staly of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office released a statement about the attack. Staly called the attack “an appalling example of escalating domestic violence,” and appealed to the Florida man to turn himself in to police.

But this is hardly the first time the couple had a nasty row that ended with police showing up. According to Flagler County authorities, the dispute was “an appalling example of escalating domestic violence,” and just the latest in a “documented history” of domestic disputes.

Troublingly, police think the attack may have been premeditated. It’s a bleak and unnecessary reminder to keep a cool head.