Schoolgirl leaves note on dented car and solves mystery hit-and-run
When a girl witnessed a hit-and-run between a bus and a parked car, she left a note and saved thousands in insurance costs.
A sixth-grader in Buffalo, New York became an unlikely detective when she left a note on a car detailing a hit-and-run she had witnessed, saving the driver “a couple of thousand”.
Andrew Sipowicz, a student at Canisius College in New York, posted a picture of his dented car, and the mystery-solving note that saved him a lot of insurance money.
The note, along with an arty illustration, said: “Bus: 449 hit your car. It stops here every day to drop me off at 5:00pm. What happened? She was trying to pull off and hit the car. She hit and run. She tried to veer over and squeeze through but couldn’t.
“She actually squeezed through. She made a dent and I saw what happened. Sorry. Driver seat left door. A lady in the bus driver seat 449, Buffalo public school bus.”
The mystery-solving note reached over 244,000 retweets.
Mr Sipowicz said: “The girl was found through a teacher of hers who DM’d me on twitter saying he recognised the hand writing. I haven’t been in any contact with the girl or her family.
“I would like to meet and thank this girl in person and reward her in some way.”
The student then updated his Tweet, saying he had found the girl who wrote the letter and is looking for an appropriate way to reward her for her good deed.
Mr Sipowicz said: “We have to go through her school district to find out what would be acceptable or not and to see if there are any rules in place.”
Social media users also loved the note, with one user calling her a “freaking rock star” for her honesty.
A spokesperson for First Student, which provides the school’s bus service, said: “When we were made aware of the incident we jumped into action. The First Student team met the owner of the sedan to review the damage and initiate our insurance process. We will cover the full cost of the repair to his vehicle as well as a loaner while his car is in the shop.
“The actions of our former driver are completely contrary to First Student’s training and what we stand for as a company. We have initiated the process to terminate the driver.
“We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that we are very impressed by this exceptional sixth grader. We commend her for her actions.”
