James Oki, RIP
2097. Hybla Valley, Va. Nov. 25. 45-year-old man suffers life-threatening injuries when struck by a red, Jeep Grand Cherokee or a similar SUV with damage to the right front side, which fled the scene.
2098. Tiverton, Mass. Nov. 23. 70-year-old man suffers serious injuries when struck by a light-colored four-door sedan which fled.
2099. Denver, Pa. Black Friday. 18-year-old man on bicycle struck and killed by a Honda Odyssey minivan that fled the scene without stopping. “Hoover was found by a passerby on foot nearly three hours later, shortly after 11 p.m. Initial dispatches Friday night and early Saturday morning indicated that a pedestrian had been struck and killed, but police later said they found Hoover’s bicycle hanging from a tree several feet from his body. The bicycle was equipped with both front and rear lights.”
2100. Albany, NY. Nov. 26. 29-year-old suffered fatal head injuries when struck by a dark-green Honda with front-end damage and possibly a missing rear-view mirror on its passenger side. “Saturday night, James Oki would have celebrated his 10-year reunion with friends from the Shaker High School class of 2001. Instead, those classmates gathered with dozens of relatives and friends in the basement of his family’s Latham home to say prayers and sing hymns in his honor as they all absorbed the shock of his death.”
2101. Freehold, NJ. Black Friday. 20-year-old woman suffers non-life-threatening injuries when struck by a silver, newer model Hyundai four-door sedan which fled; “occupants first threw eggs at her and two other pedestrians, police reported.”
2102. New London, Ct. Black Friday. 25-year-old woman suffers minor injuries when struck by an unidentified vehicle which fled the scene.
2103. New Hanover County, NC. Nov. 24. 22-year-old seriously injured when struck by a 1995 Chevy of some kind, possibly a truck, Tahoe or Suburban, which fled.
2104. Roselawn, Ohio. Nov. 27. Man suffers minor injuries and dog killed when they were struck by a black Lexus which fled the scene.
Related stories:
A 10-year-old boy remained in critical condition Friday as Pine Hill police continued their search for two hit-and-run vehicles that struck the child earlier this week.
Pine Hill Police Lt. Chris Winters said police are continuing to review video surveillance from the state Department of Transportation and area businesses in hopes of better identifying two vans that witnesses said struck the child along Cross Keys Road at about 6:28 p.m. Wednesday evening and then drove off.
And I quote (I)…
It didn’t take long for police officers investigating a fatal hit-and-run crash Wednesday night to track down Jeffery L. Larry, the Columbus man accused of running a stop sign and fleeing the site of the violent collision. That’s because a trail of anti-freeze led them straight to Larry’s nearby mobile home on Plateau Drive, police said this morning.
Police said Larry tried to hide his badly damaged Geo Prizm behind the trailer and another immobilized vehicle. But he allegedly confessed to his role in the fatal crash at the first sight of a police officer.
“It was me,” Larry is said to have told police. “I was driving the car.”
Police said they smelled alcohol on Larry’s breath.
And I quote (II)…
An Olympia woman might have been drunk when she struck two pedestrians – an 11-year-old girl and her aunt – Thursday night in the 1300 block of Galaxy Drive, according to Lacey police. Police were able to arrest the woman because about nine witnesses got vehicle descriptions and a license plate number after the 10:48 p.m. incident, Sgt. Dave Campbell said.
And I quote (III)…
Police are searching for a man [firefighter] who intentionally struck a person with his car at a gas station in San Francisco early Thursday morning, critically injuring the victim.
Earlier that morning, shortly before 2:45 a.m., the suspect and victim got into a physical fight at a restaurant on the corner of 11th Avenue and Geary Boulevard, police said. They were separated and both the suspect and victim left the restaurant. The victim walked to a gas station at Ninth Avenue and Geary Boulevard and the suspect got into his car.
Police said the suspect drove into the gas station, intentionally struck the victim and drove away. The victim suffered life-threatening injuries from the crash, according to police.
And I quote (IV)…
Two months after a Queens woman was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Brooklyn, police and family members are appealing to anyone who may have seen what happened. Detectives with Brooklyn’s Accident Investigation Squad set up a road block Friday night at Utica and Flatlands Avenue in East Flatbush, asking drivers about what happened on September 23. Jillian Hall, 56, was struck twice around 9 p.m. that night.
And I quote (V)…
One in four car crashes in Las Cruces is a hit and run, and while some of them are sure to be fender-taps committed by truly unaware drivers, there’s often another a reason the person didn’t stick around to take responsibility, say police and insurance professionals.
The Insurance Research Council said in 2009 that 26 percent of New Mexico drivers are uninsured, up from 24 percent in 2004 but down from 60 percent in the 1980s, probably accounting for many of the hit and runs. (During an Oct. 20 traffic sting at Telshor Boulevard and Lohman Avenue targeting motorists on their cell phones, 11 percent of offending drivers were also cited for not having proper insurance.)
Another study estimated that a “high percentage” of hit-and-run accidents involve intoxicated drivers, said Las Cruces Police Department Sgt. Kevin Renn.
And I quote (VI) …
The Metropolitan Police Department is waging war — not against criminals or illegal drugs, but rather AAA Mid-Atlantic.
John B. Townsend II, a spokesman for the group, apparently ruffled some feathers when he told WTOP radio in a Nov. 16 report that the District led the nation in fatal hit-and-run accidents over the last decade. A table that accompanies the story on WTOP.com illustrates the conclusions. Nevertheless, MPD promptly issued a press release purporting to counter the report.
And I quote (VII) …
On a chilly Sunday afternoon near the Minneapolis intersection where his uncle was struck and killed while biking two weeks before, Michael Buller donned his helmet and started pedaling.
Buller, 28, of Minneapolis, was joined by about 40 friends, relatives and other cyclists for a memorial and bike ride in memory of Thomas Malloy, 61, of Minneapolis, killed Nov. 12 when he was struck by a pickup truck in a hit-and-run incident.
Caught, convicted, court appearance or car-on-car in … Auburn, Wash.; Wausaw, Wisc.; Stratford, Ct.; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Taunton, Mass.; Polk Twp., Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Lenoir, NC; Plainfield, Ill.
More hit-and-run stories, including every volume of Hit-and-Run America (in reverse order), are accessible from this linked page. (The full Volume-by-Volume list will appear sporadically from now on.)