BOYNTON BEACH, FL-- It was a serious as it looked. SWAT teams cornered a man barricaded in a home who was believed to be armed, suicidal and a federal fugitive.
For 2-and-half hours, there was a standoff with police.
Then, using flash-bang grenades, Boynton Beach SWAT brought him out.
That's part of the story.
At the point where the drama began several miles away, the residual damage lingered.
"We were sitting on our porch and I hear boom and I said 'what was that,' " said Tammy Garcia.
It didn't take long for Garcia to solve the mystery. A fleeing fugitive's truck rammed her 99 Buick LeSabre; a car she scraped the money together to buy just two weeks ago.
"We're stuck with something we didn’t do," she says.
Stuck with a car that is too dangerous to drive and the ripple effect: "It means we don't have a car to drive. I work in West Palm... my husband just got laid off, the whole car wobbles," she said.
The fugitive later ended up in the standoff with police. Tammy ended up without wheels and personal insurance too minimal to cover getting the car back on the road.
An innocent bystander, Tammy figured Geico, the driver's insurer, would cover the claim and get her rolling.
But when she called, "They said it would be 30 days maybe more they have to investigate. What is there to investigate? It's a hit and run."
So there is Tammy Garcia, her 99 Buick reduced to a 4,000 pound radio...trying to figure out how to get back on the road.
"I was minding my own business living my life, I struggle to make my rent," she said.
Tammy says she will continue to ask Geico to accelerate its investigation on humanitarian grounds. Her minimal coverage won’t cover the repairs needed to get her back on the road.
