'Then I hear the (car accelerate) ... I yelled You gotta be kidding me'

Using a tiny doll, Matt Lefebvre shows how he was turned into 'a human pretzel' when he was trapped in the undercarriage of an SUV. (Rochester Voice photos)

DOVER - In gut-wrenching, gruesome detail a Rochester man held Courtroom No. 2 spellbound for more than an hour on Wednesday as he gave a blow by blow account - literally - of when he was run over by a dark-colored SUV that struck him while jogging the morning of Oct. 11, 2021.
The victim, Matt Lefebvre, of Rochester, said he was turned into a pretzel as he was churned through the undercarriage of the vehicle that struck him not once but two times during the encounter at the corner of Mcduffee and North Main St. just a couple of blocks east of the nearby McDonald's and Cumberland Farms store across from Home Depot.

Defense co-counsel Stuart Dedopoulos, left, and Alfred Catalfo III assist the defendant, Joyce Howard, during a break in court proceedings on Wednesday.

Joyce Howard, 69, of Mcduffee Lane, who is charged with second-degree assault and leaving the scene of the accident, wore a beige overcoat and appeared distraught much of the time as she sat between her defense team of Stuart Dedopoulos and Alfred Catalfo III.
She faces up to 14 years in prison if found guilty.
Lefebvre, an avid jogger, held the courtroom spellbound as he described what happened a little before 6 a.m. as he was jogging home after dropping a car off for an oil change at Rochester VW on Farmington Road.
He said his plan was to jog home to his residence not far from Spaulding High School. To do this safely in the

Matt Lefebvre, stands up to show the court the flashing helmet he was wearing when he was hit.

darkness he described in detail how he was dressed in brightly colored clothes and wore a helmet equipped with an array of front and back flashing lights.
Lefebvre testified that as he began to approach the corner of North Main Street and Mcduffee Lane, he saw a dark SUV stopped just over the white line. He said he slowed his gait just slightly but saw that the car wasn't moving and thought it was waiting for him to cross in front, but as he got three quarters of the way past the vehicle it accelerated quickly as it turned left, struck him and knocked him to the ground.
"I hit the ground and landed on my right shoulder and my temple," he said under questioning from Strafford County Assistant Attorney Emily Conant Garod. "I thought to myself, 'Holy crap, I just got hit by a car.' It could've been much worse. I knew my shoulder was injured. I had been pushed into North Main Street. But now I'm partially in the path of cars. Then I hear the (SUV accelerate). I laid as flat as possible and yelled, 'You gotta be kidding me.'"
Lefebvre said as the car lurched forward over his body he felt such excruciating pain that it conjured images of his wife and three young boys as he feared the worse.
"It was like a wave, I could feel my bones popping and crunching," he said, his voice breaking. "I thought about my wife and kids ... I was under the car and knew the back wheel would be coming at some point. And it did. It went just above my butt and my head was being dragged across the pavement. I thought my head was going to rip off."
Lefebvre testified the whole time he was screaming louder than he ever thought he could. But the terror wasn't over. After the car had run him over he was out in the middle of the northbound lanes of North Main Street vulnerable to oncoming traffic that often speeds through this stretch of road.
But then he had a slim ray of hope, he testified. As he lay in the road crumpled and bleeding, he saw that the car that had just run over him had turned right onto Twombly Street and stopped near the corner. He could see the brake lights come on.
"I thought, 'They can see me, they're going to come back and help," he testified.
But a few moments later the SUV drove off, prompting a new wave of terror.
"I suddenly had sheer panic," he said. "I thought they were going to come back and hit me again."
Finally, a Good Samaritan came upon him and called 911.
Lefebvre, who was accompanied by his wife and a large group of family and friends suffered multiple serious injuries in the crash including three spinal cord injuries, nine broken ribs, a broken sternum and clavicle, a punctured lung, nerve damage to his left side and a severe laceration that went from ear to ear on top of his head that took 25 staples to stop the bleeding.
He said in court that his top two ribs didn't heal properly and could pierce his lung again if he falls.
The trial continues today with more direct testimony from the prosecution and then cross examination from the defense.