Man hit by an SUV Outside a Bar, His Family Seeks Justice

Source: Perry Banks (family provided) / Perry Banks (family provided)

INDIANAPOLIS — A family is seeking justice after a man was hit by a car outside a bar on the Indy’s west side.  

Perry Banks was hit and killed by an SUV just after midnight Saturday at the Checkered Flag Tavern while trying to break up an argument.  

Police say the argument began inside the bar and then went on out in the parking lot, where the suspect drove purposefully into a crowd. Banks’ family shared that he was trying to help when he was struck by the SUV, which has been ruled a homicide.  

“It’s very heart-wrenching,” said Banks’ niece, Samaria Allen-Whenu.  

“It’s hard to accept it.  It was so random,” said Banks’ other niece, Taliyah Ratcliffe.  

Both Allen-Whenu and Ratcliffe say their uncle mostly kept to himself but also had a fun-loving, goofy personality.

The owner of the Checkered Flag said surveillance footage showed the suspect driving into the crowd of people in the parking lot and then fled the scene.  

“It’s just crazy to think about it because when they said he was trying to de-escalate it that sounds just like him,” Ratcliffe said. “He doesn’t really get into it with anybody.”  

Allen-Whenu agreed with her cousin.  

“The suspect got aggravated and took it upon himself and drove into a crowd of people and killed the person who was trying to help the situation,” she said. “There’s not a way you can fathom that.”  

Police identified the suspect who fled the scene after crashing into the crowd.  

Banks’ family wishes for people to know not to do anything that the driver did.  

“That wasn’t supposed to happen to my uncle, but I hope the suspect gets what he deserves.  I hope they get him off the street,” Ratcliffe said.  

“Even though we forgive him and pray for him, he needs to be held accountable,” Allen-Whenu said.  

Indianapolis Metro Police said that the two people involved in the argument knew each other.