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Woman hit by minivan after Fells Point fight

Posted at 12:17 PM, Feb 06, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-08 06:11:15-05

It's a violent and chaotic video.  A man in a minivan drives wildly in reverse down the sidewalk, slamming into a woman just leaving a Fells Point bar Saturday morning.

The frightening video picks up mid-fight, and escalates quickly. 

Baltimore City Police say 37-year-old Orlando Redd is the man in the driver's seat.  According to investigators, The Parkville man had been drinking, and faces multiple charges.  Officers tell us Redd was actually trying to get away from a group who was attacking him.

"This is the most out of control thing that I’ve ever witnessed."

The man behind the cell phone streamed the video live, unaware the intense brawl happening on South Broadway is about to turn into a tragedy.

In the video, you see the van start driving in reverse and accelerating.  The auto jumps the curb and plows down the sidewalk.

"When he started going across the sidewalk, it was horrifying, it was just a whole different thing.  The terror that you could hear people yelling and not knowing what happens next."

The van crashes into a building, and runs over a woman as she walks out of a bar.

"She had opened the door and less than 10-seconds later this happened,” said Kelley Heuisler.

The 27-year-old victim is Jill Borum, a complete stranger to Kelley who owns the store Poppy and Stella, not far from where the chaos unfolded.

"I just saw what happened and wanted to help any way that I could,” said Heuisler.  “So I went over to Dogwatch and talked to the owner and said have you guys done anything, what I can do, have you set up a Go Fund Me, do you want me to do that."

The page was started Saturday morning with a $5,000 goal.  The response from the community has been overwhelming.  At last check, more then $41,000 has been donated to help Jill and her husband on the long road to recovery.  The couple was just marriedback in October, and Jill's husband works at Dogwatch Tavern.

"The injuries that she sustained are extensive, and she has a very long recovery ahead of her, and the fact that we are able to do this so she and her husband can really focus on her recovery, it's just amazing," Heuisler said.

Jill is in the hospital in serious condition with skull fractures, broken ribs, a bruised lung, and trauma to her pelvis.  A post on the Go Fund Me pagesays Jill is “stable and in good spirits.”

If you want to help Jill, but don't want to donate money, items can be dropped off for her at Dogwatch Tavern.  The owners are visiting her in the hospital and will make sure Jill gets them.  Investigators say it's a miracle she's alive, and no one else was hurt.    

ABC 2 News spoke with the sister of Redd, Dee Phillips, and she says their entire family is praying for Jill.

Officers say Redd was being attacked by a group of men, and he jumped in the van to try and get away.

Phillips tells us she talked to her brother after his arrest.  She explained that Redd didn't plan on driving that night, and he was just trying to escape the men assaulting him.  She says they started attacking his friends in a bar, and the fight spilled out onto the street.

“All of us can say what we would have done in a situation like that, but you can’t say it until you’re in it,” Phillips said.

The 37-year-old is charged with 1st and 2nd degree assault, malicious destruction of property and intoxication.

“But that’s not who he is, he was not a drunk maniac trying to run people over, he was a man fearful for his life and trying to get away.”

Phillips says Redd does have a criminal past, and has spent time in jail.  But she adds that since he has been home, he has not been in any trouble and focuses on his job and spending time with his son.

Police are still searching for the men who were attacking Redd.  His next court date is set for March.