A BRITISH woman was left fighting for life after she was caught up in a horror hit-and-run in the US following a terrifying gun battle.
Ellie Bentley, 22, spent two weeks in the ICU following the sickening attack which saw her dragged under a car for two blocks.
Facebook/ Ellie BentleyBrit Ellie Bentley, 22, was left in the ICU after a hit-and-run car crash in the US[/caption]
Facebook/ Ellie BentleyShe had moved to St Louis, MO only last year to be with her then-boyfriend[/caption]
KSDKShe was dragged for two blocks underneath a car following a shooting[/caption]
The young woman, who only moved to the US last year, was getting out of her car near her home in St Louis, Missouri when she was accidentally caught up in a gun battle that also saw a 25-year-old man rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds.
She was rushed to hospital in the early hours of February 25 suffering from several fractured limbs and was kept in the ICU until yesterday.
Ellie, from Bingham, just east of Nottingham, graduated recently from the University of York in mathematics and physics.
She moved to the US with her then-boyfriend, former Aston Villa player Indiana Vassilev when he transferred to MLS side St Louis FC.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, Ellie’s attorney, Ben Tobin, a partner at Pratt & Tobin personal injury lawyers, said she faces “a long road of recovery.”
Explaining what had happened on the morning of February 25, Ben said: “She had just gotten out of a car when the shooting started.
“She ducked down behind another vehicle until the shooting stopped, but then the person whose car she was hiding behind floored it, hit her, ran her over, and dragged her for a couple of blocks.”
Ben added that Ellie hadn’t known either party involved in the horror shooting and that she was an “unlucky bystander.”
He added that the person who had hit Ellie with his car “knew she was there” when he ran her over.
St Louis Metropolitan Police Department said that officers responded to a call at about 3am in the Grove area of the city.
A group of people reportedly tried to get into the wrong car thinking it belonged to one in their party.
The driver, a 35-year-old man, then shot at the group, leaving one man, 25, with gunshot wounds.
Further investigation revealed that Ellie was injured by a separate car which fled the scene after the shooting started, being driven by another man, also 25.
Ben said there was no doubt in his mind that the hit-and-run driver had known Ellie was there when he drove off.
“Based on the video footage, there’s no way for the individual that hit her and ran her over and dragged her to argue that he did not know that she was underneath the vehicle when he took off.”
Police in St Louis said they had arrested the driver of the car who struck Ellie, but that the shooting suspect was still at large.
Ben said Ellie had regained consciousness on Saturday, but that her recovery would take some time.
Ellie’s family has traveled from the UK to be with her, while friends have set up a GoFundMe appeal to raise money for her medical expenses.
“She was pretty sure she was going to die as she was dragged underneath the vehicle,” he said.
“For the entire time, she was lying there trying to hold on and do whatever she could so she didn’t end up getting kicked out under the wheel.”
Through her attorney, Ellie told The U.S. Sun: “Like most 22-year-olds, I enjoyed dance, going to the gym, and yoga, and devoted two-to-three hours a day to physical fitness.
“Now I can’t move my legs or my right arm.”
Ellie originally moved out to the US with her then-boyfriend Vassilev, a 23-year-old winger born in Savannah, Georgia, who moved to the UK in 2018 to join the Villa youth set-up.
After several loan spells, he returned to the US permanently in 2023 when he joined MLS side St Louis FC.
In a post from March last year shared on a Facebook group for Brits living in St Louis, Ellie wrote: “Hey, nice to meet you! My name is Ellie and I have recently graduated from the University of York with a degree in mathematics and physics.
“My partner Indiana Vassilev recently joined St Louis FC, I am actively looking for a position in St Louis.”
She went on to say that the club was helping her with her visa paperwork and that she was looking for positions in the “university, non-profit or government research field.”
Facebook/ Ellie BentleyEllie is originally from Bingham, Nottinghamshire[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
