The owner, Tarfin Micu, is known for working six, sometimes seven, days a week as the only mechanic in his shop.
“I’ve seen Tarfin out here working on cars when it’s 120 degrees out or whether it’s 20 degrees out,” said Brian Laney, a longtime customer and neighbor.
But for the first time, Tarfin’s shop is closed as he sits in a hospital with severe injuries.
His wife told ABC13 that last Friday, he was working on a customer’s car when a man walked into the auto garage pretending to make casual conversation.
“He came in just as a customer, very nice dressed, very clean,” said Crina Micu.
As he was saying goodbye, she says the man jumped into the customer’s car and put it in reverse.
Tarfin tried to stop him by leaning into the driver’s side window trying to turn off the car, but he was dragged and eventually run over by the suspect, who refused to stop.
Crina watched the whole thing unfold as she was trying to pull into the shop.
The suspect got away only after ramming the car into the next door barber shop.
She describes the customer’s car as a 2012 red Cadillac with heavy front-end damage.
Now Tarfin, a husband, father, and the sole provider for his family, has a broken foot, broken hip, broken rib and cracked vertebrae.
Loyal customers have set up a GoFundMe for the family, as they work to get through this .
“To take something from him and to take his health from him, it’s pretty much the lowest thing you can do,” said Laney.
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