Passersby ignore man struck by car

HARTFORD - The surveillance video is gripping: A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver, and cars zoom by as he lies motionless on the busy city street.

Pedestrians gawk, but do nothing. One driver stops briefly, but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away.

The chilling video has outraged Hartford's police chief and is causing some to question the humanity of Connecticut's capital city.

"At the end of the day, we've got to look at ourselves and understand that our moral values have now changed." Police Chief Daryl Roberts said after releasing the video in hopes of making an arrest. "We have no regard for each other."

The video shocked the city. The Hartford Courant blared "SO INHUMANE" in a front-page headline, and debate about the bystanders' callousness dominated radio talk shows.

The video shows the victim, Angel Arce Torres, being struck by a dark Honda that was chasing a tan Toyota. Several cars pass, as a few people stare from the sidewalk. Some approach Torres, but most stay put until a police cruiser responding to an unrelated call arrives on the scene. Torres was hospitalized in critical condition.