Help My Shiba Inu, Elvis with his vet bills.

Hi. I don’t usually do this (ask for help) due to my pride, but I recently got on short term disability at work due to an injury and I am broke. Unfortunately on Friday around 6pm my baby boy, Elvis was out on his leash doing his usual business (bathroom) and his leash came off and he ran around the yard but was not able to be caught, so he runs in the street. My street is low in traffic, since it’s a residential street, but this Hispanic old guy and his son saw Elvis in the street and proceeded to slow down; I assumed to let us grab him, but instead he looked us dead in the eye and floored it, throwing Elvis a couple feet and everyone in the neighborhood saw this happen. I got the plates to the car, which turns out doesn’t live far from me. We made a police report and they told us that we would instead be liable if his car had damage for hitting our dog, Elvis, as opposed to him being liable for paying the vet bill. The officers words “he is telling us something different and when he opened the door he was really polite and cordial with us, I don’t see why he would be lying”. As if being cordial automatically makes you innocent. I asked the cop so what would happen if I was driving down the street and intentionally hit a dog and he said with an attitude “well that would make you an asshole, I thought you were a Law student”, which I am. So they left and we rushed Elvis to the ER and had to borrow money just so he could get seen. He’s only 6 months old and my wife, son, and I love him like he’s part of the family. Losing him would be devastating to our family. I know I won’t get much, or anything at all, but I’d figured I’d try, since I would do anything for my baby boy, Elvis. Thank you.