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'Please turn yourself in': Family of Phoenix hit and run victim seek justice

Dallas Miswald was critically injured near 16th Street and Osborn Road Monday.

PHOENIX — Two minutes after leaving his home for work, Dallas Miswald was critically injured right outside his apartment complex.

A truck was making a left turn onto Osborn Road when it struck the 29-year-old motorcyclist rider who was going southbound on 16th Street on Monday, Phoenix police said.

Miswald was rushed to Banner University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. The suspected driver fled the scene.

“I don’t know how someone could do that,” Sarah Miswald said. “How do you just hit someone and leave them lying there, not knowing if they’re okay or not?”

Sarah and Dallas have been married for almost five years. Staff from the hospital called and told her about the news around 7 a.m., 30 minutes after the crash.

“They did tell me his heart had stopped,” she said. “A nurse who was passing by on her way to work, she actually works at Banner University. She started CPR on him.”

She said doctors revived Miswald at the hospital, but his condition was critical. He suffered internal bleeding and was taken to surgery immediately. He also has spinal cord and brain injuries.

“He started to go towards brain death,” his wife said. “His spinal cord was so badly damaged, even if he did wake up, he would have been a quadriplegic, unable to move anything below the neck. He wouldn’t be able to communicate or recognize us. He wouldn’t be able to breathe on his own.”

“Luckily, all of his organs were still good. So, we’re donating all of those. Then we’re going to take them off life support after they take those,” Sarah Miswald said.

It was a decision she said she’d never thought she’d had to make.

“Knowing that he can help someone else, save their life, whether it’s just a little tissue for like a burn victim, skin wise, whether it’s like a heart transplant, knowing that he’s helping them, is a small glimmer of hope,” she added.

Miswald is described as a caring and generous person, but also a “good man” who liked to make people laugh.

The couple met on a dating app and after two years of dating, they tied the knot in Milwaukee. They moved to Arizona two years ago.

“It’s killing us, he was my world, and our little family is broken now,” Miswald’s wife said. “I want to catch the person who did this. I don’t want other people to have to be in this situation.”

Phoenix police said they are investigating the crash and have not identified the truck involved.

“Please turn yourself in. We just want justice for him,” Sarah Miswald said. “Never thought I’d be a widow at 31.”

As for how many lives Dallas Miswald’s life will save through his organ donation, his wife said doctors are working to determine recipients, but she believes there will be many.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with medical expenses.

Anyone with information about this incident can contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS and remain anonymous.

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