RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) Classic car enthusiast John Dempsey uses only one word to describe his 1958 Mercury Montclair.
"Totaled…absolutely,” he said.
“Fifty-four years it has made it without a ding in the bumper until last Saturday," said Dempsey.
It was then that the car Dempsey had been restoring almost daily for six months got much more than a ding in the bumper.
"She hit it so hard she knocked it back 30 feet from where it was originally parked," he said as he pointed to the smashed front end.
When he found his car damaged and positioned on the sidewalk, Dempsey looked to Richmond Police for answers. He was told that a drunk driver had been speeding by and hit it head on.
"It's been quite a few cars over the past few weeks and I think mine probably got the worst of it,” said Dempsey.
It was just a few weeks ago and one block over from where Dempsey lives that CBS 6 first reported a rash of speeding and hit and runs in the area.
Neighbors on Texas Avenue called after another parked car had been totaled and the driver got away.
They were quick to point out damage that their cars had sustained as a result of reckless driving in their neighborhood.
"It was a Friday night, because I came out and the mirror was in the street," said Levell Pooler as he described his damage.
Pooler has lived in the neighborhood for over forty years. He claimed that just recently the problem has gotten worse.
"It makes you feel kind of terrible because that’s extra money that we don't have," said Pooler.
He hopes his community will get a greater police presence or perhaps some speed bumps installed so that the speeding and the damage will stop.
"Something needs to be done because this street is too small for a 65 m.p.h zone," he said.
Marty Jewell claimed he’s working on the issue concerning so many of his constituents.
He believes the problems stem from heavy drinking and partying that go un-policed at a nearby public beach.
Monday he said he was making calls to police again to see where they were with the issue.
