BAYTOWN, Texas — A Baytown man is recovering after being hit by a truck and left to die on the side of the road.
"It's inhumane," said Gina Rios, Raymundo Rios' mother. "How can you just hit someone and leave them there?"
Raymundo Rios, 20, had just finished filling up gas cans off Highway 146 and Alexander Drive. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he noticed his tailgate was open. He stopped and stepped out to close it.
It was at about 11 a.m.
"The next thing he says he remembers is waking up looking at the pavement," Gina Rios said.
When Raymundo Rios came to, he was bleeding and bruised. He found the strength to get back in his truck and somehow made the drive to his parent's house.
"He thought he was dying," Gina Rios said. "He just wanted to make it back to us, so we could be with him. He kept on crying telling us he couldn't breathe."
Doctors treated him for broken ribs, a broken shoulder and severe road rash, but he's going to recover.
"He has a guardian angel, a guardian angel working overtime for him," Gina Rios said.
The Rios family is grateful they're not planning a funeral and are hoping whoever is responsible does the right thing and comes forward.
"He doesn't know what the true intent was," Gina Rios said. "Why would you hit a person? I know nobody wants someone like that in their community and disregard them like nothing."
Baytown police said they're investigating the hit-and-run. Investigators said there may be surveillance cameras that captured part of the incident. They will review any possible footage to determine exactly what happened and identify any possible suspects.
If you have any information that can help, you're asked to call Baytown police.