PHOENIX -- The family of a young woman run over in a Peoria parking lot is speaking out for the first time since Tuesday’s accident outside Department of Economic Security building.

“I just never thought something like this could happen,” said Peter-Ali Almaleki, whose sister is still hospitalized, fighting for her life.

Peoria police said Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, ran over his daughter Noor Almaleki, 20, and her friend, Amal Edan Khalef, a 43-year-old Surprise resident, as they walked out of the building at 89th and Peoria avenues.

Peter-Ali Almaleki told CBS 5 News in an exclusive interview Saturday that for years his father and sister have been at odds.

He said much of the conflict stems from his sister choosing to not follow in the family's Muslim traditions but he added he had no idea what led his father to run over his sister.

Noor Almaleki is still unconscious, he said. “She's moving around a little but they think it's spontaneous movement,” Peter-Ali Almaleki said.

He said his sister has undergone spinal surgery but there’s a chance she may never recover.

“It's hurt my mom more than anybody,” he said.

He said part of the hurt is the tension between father and daughter for the past two years.

The people she's been living with is what triggered my dad's anger,” he said.

Peter-Ali Almaleki said his sister is married to an Iraqi and lived with him in the Middle East until recently.

He said his sister, after arriving in the U.S, moved in with a new man and his father didn’t approve.

“The past two years she's been going out of her way being disrespectful and the person, the boy that is supposedly her boyfriend, now I don't like him,” said Peter-Ali Almaleki.

And for a traditional Muslim family, he said that disrespect was the ultimate insult to his father.

“Different cultures, different values,” he said. “One thing to one culture does not make sense to another culture.”

“Just seeing her in the hospital just broke my heart,” he said. “Nobody should have to go through that.”

Even though he doesn’t know where his father is, he said the family has heard from him.

“He did call yesterday to ask how she was and my mom yelled at him and hung up,” he said.

Police said Faleh Almaleki drove away from the scene Tuesday in a gray or silver 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee with license plate No. ADS-9192.