Hit-and-run kills disabled man's dog in Pocomoke

Paul Hudson of Pocomoke City rests the collar of his dog, Foxy, on her tombstone outside his home after it was killed. Maryland State Police are investigating an alleged hit-and-run that killed the dog and left Hudson with minor injuries. / Amanda Rippen White photo

POCOMOKE CITY -- Maryland State Police are investigating an alleged hit-and-run that killed a wheelchair-using man's dog and left him with minor injuries.

Paul Franklin Hudson Sr., a 71-year-old Pocomoke City resident, said he was struck by a black SUV just before 3 p.m. Saturday while traveling southbound by motorized wheelchair in the grass on Route 113's shoulder. In an interview, he said he was on his way to McDonald's to get ice cream and had his small dog, a 3-year-old named Foxy, in his lap.

The car came from the fast lane to the slow lane and over the shoulder's rumble strip before reaching Hudson, he said, adding it seemed like the driver of the vehicle was "trying to kill" him.
The impact forced Hudson, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, from his motorized wheelchair and killed Foxy, he told police. The car allegedly fled the scene.

Hudson said he was "hurting all over" Monday, but he was a Marine and could handle it. He was more upset about his dog's death than any physical injuries he suffered and said he cried all night Saturday after the accident.

"She was like a part of my family," Hudson said, and described the dog as a Chihuahua and poodle mix. "She slept with me. She ate with me. We did everything together."

Police were still working Monday afternoon to confirm Hudson's account of the accident, according to State Police Sgt. Christopher Davala.

"We're still trying to ascertain if (Hudson) indeed had been struck, or if there was some kind of other incident that occurred," Davala said Monday.

Hudson said he was knocked unconscious briefly after the collision, and when he came to, he saw four or five cars whose drivers had stopped to help him.

The strangers helped him back into his wheelchair and placed Foxy back on his lap, he said. Then one of them followed him to his residence in the 2200 block of Groton Road -- nearly a mile from Smitty's -- where his fiancee called an ambulance and police, Hudson said.

He was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
No one has come forward with any information on who was driving the vehicle or who the Good Samaritans who stopped to help may have been, Davala said.

Route 113 is not a very pedestrian-friendly highway, and it has small shoulders in some areas, according to Bob Hulburd, chairman of CRASH, a group of county residents who advocate for safer roadways.

"It's an unfortunate situation, and I feel for (Hudson) and his dog," Hulburd said. "If you're on a highway with those kinds of speeds, you have to be very cautious."

Anyone with information about the accident is urged to call state police at 410-641-3101.