An ongoing collection of unsolved hit-and-run cases, with a focus on car/pedestrian incidents, from across the country since Jan. ‘010. If you know something about any of these incidents, or one that I’ve missed, do the right thing and call the police, even anonymously.
1534. Philadelphia. May 7. Three children injured Saturday when a driver plowed through a group of children attending a birthday block party and attempted to attack an off-duty police officer with an ax. Police say the driver, high on PCP and waving a hatchet, was speeding down the street in a stolen black Volvo. He hit and dragged an inflatable bouncer with children playing inside, striking two 9-year-old boys and a 2-year-old girl, who suffered serious head injuries. Yes, that’s his mugshot.
1535. Philadelphia. May 9. Unidentified man in his 20s getting off a bus struck and killed by a maroon sedan, late 90s or early 2000s, with front end damage and a broken windshield.
1536. Norfolk, Va. May 6. Man critically injured after being struck by a Jeep which fled the scene.
1537. Boswell, Pa. May 8. 15-year-old boy injured when struck by an unidentified vehicle which fled the scene.
1538. Lexington, SC. March 9. 37-year-old man on a moped struck and killed by a full-size pickup truck with lights on top which fled the scene.
1539. Catskill, NY. May 9. Two young men struck and injured by a silver two-door vehicle which fled the scene.
Related stories:
And I quote (I) …
LAS CRUCES – It’s been one year since a 51-year-old Anthony, N.M., commuter was fatally struck and killed – and the driver who killed him is still free.
Wearing a helmet, and riding a bike equipped with front and back flashing lights, Ruben Lemus was making his regular 10-mile bike commute to his job. Lemus was found by a passer-by soon after he was hit and left for dead, his helmet bearing “a significant crack” from the impact, according to police. He was taken to a local hospital, but after remaining in a coma, he died a month later.
And I quote (II) …
New Jersey State Police say several people started fighting. During the melee, one of the combatants managed to get into a car. The suspect drove the car into the people fighting.
And I quote (III) …
A resident in the 3800 block of Colbourne Street told police a man on a riding lawn mower approached him and asked if he could mow his yard. The resident, who said he wasn’t interested, noticed the man smelled strongly of alcohol.
A short time later the man on the mower reportedly struck the rear bumper of a parked vehicle and fled the scene. Police later found the unattended mower between Howard and Willow streets.
And I quote (IV)…
A suspected drunken driver was arrested early Friday after he struck and killed a pedestrian, crashed into parked cars and then smashed into planter boxes outside a San Francisco hospital, authorities said.
The series of crashes began at about 2:30 a.m. when the suspect, Jose Jimenez, 23, of San Francisco, ran down a 61-year-old man crossing Masonic Avenue at Turk Boulevard, police Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.
Jimenez continued south on Masonic in his 2009 Hyundai as a cabdriver called police, authorities said. The victim, James Hudson of San Francisco, died at the scene.
And I quote (V) …
Late Saturday night, Corpus Christi police say a man was pronounced dead at a hospital after he was found lying in the road near Navigation and I-37. We don’t know exactly how the man died and police say there were no signs of trauma. But the victim’s family is convinced a driver hit him while he was on a bike and then took off.
And I quote (VI) …
Minor injuries were sustained by the operator of a buggy in Lamar Township, following a hit and run crash on Wednesday, May 4, shortly before 10:30 p.m. As Eli Miller Fisher, 52, of Mill Hall was east bound on Auction Road, two miles west of Route 477, in a single horse buggy, an older model vehicle approached from the rear, Trooper Joseph M. Cavanaugh said. The vehicle apparently failed to note the buggy at a reasonable distance and locked his brakes, striking the rear of the box style buggy. Upon impact, the horse was detached from the buggy and Fisher sustained minor injuries. The motor vehicle fled the scene, Cavanaugh said.
And I quote (VII) …
Angela Gattuso, a 21-year-old college student who’s still critically injured almost two months after the accident in Gloucester City, is on the verge of leaving a rehab facility.
But the young woman will continue to need 24-hour care, and her family’s insurance won’t cover the cost of a long-term facility, said Angela’s father, Louis Gattuso.
So, she’ll be returning to her family’s home — a house that now needs costly changes such as a wheelchair ramp and a handicap-accessible bathroom.
“We just found out her tub alone is $850,” said Louis Gattuso in an interview Thursday. “She’s our daughter and we want to take care of her. You do what you have to do, and we want to do our best.”
And I quote (VIII)…
Indianapolis police Monday released new information about the vehicle in a hit-and-run crash that left one man dead and another in serious condition.
David Smith, 33, and Jason Pedigo, 28, were pushing a grocery cart in the eastbound lanes of the 3100 block of West Morris Street when they were struck at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.
And I quote (IX) …
The now-suspended New Orleans Police officer who was arrested Friday for DWI and hit-and-run registered a .153 blood-alcohol level – nearly twice the legal limit of .08 – after being pulled over after she hit another car.
And I quote (X) …
A 21-year-old man is being held on $2 million bond, charged in the hit-and-run death of a 4-year-old Mount Pleasant boy.
And I quote (XI)…
Charges have yet to be filed against the driver accused of striking two John Hopkins University students. Baltimore City police called the investigation “ongoing.”
And I quote (XII) …
CINCINNATI (CN) – A police officer who yanked a suspected hit-and-run driver out of his car by the collar is entitled to immunity from excessive-force claims, the 6th Circuit ruled, overturning a District Court’s order to the contrary.
And I quote (XIII)…
Officials are looking for a shoplifting suspect after he allegedly hit a pedestrian in the parking lot as he was leaving the store.
And I quote (XIV)…
A man suspected of striking and killing a pedestrian with his car in San Francisco’s North of Panhandle neighborhood early Friday and then fleeing the scene is a cadet with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said Monday.
Caught, convicted, court appearance or car-on-car in … Temple, Texas; Gladstone, Mo.; Mason City, Iowa; Chatham, NJ; Kaua’i, Hawaii, Salt Lake City, Utah; Indianapolis; South Dennis, Mass.; Temecula, Cal.
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.)