SAN ANTONIO, Texas – San Antonio police officers are searching for a driver who hit a man and woman already involved in a previous crash Thursday morning.
The woman, a pedestrian who was hit both in the initial crash and by the fleeing driver, died of her injuries.
The crash happened before 7 a.m. on Babcock Road near St. Cloud on the city’s Northwest Side.
Police say a 57-year-old man driving a pickup ran into the woman as she was crossing the street.
When he got out to check on her, a second vehicle came along and hit both him and the woman, police said.
The pickup driver also suffered serious injuries and was rushed to a hospital.
The driver who hit them never stopped at all, police said.
“I may have heard a car speed off, but I didn’t get a good look at anything. I didn’t process it as a hit and run,” said one neighbor, who didn’t want to reveal his identity.
He said he was leaving his own driveway when he heard a loud thud, likely the sound of one of the vehicles hitting someone.
“And I pulled back in because I thought it was a gunshot,” the neighbor said.
Across the street, Johnny Villarreal said he and his wife heard the same thud and then bolted out of bed.
“We got up and we were looking,” he said. “Then, police cars started coming together and then I saw something on my driveway, at the end of my driveway.”
As it turned out, the woman who was hit and fatally injured landed right outside Villarreal’s gate.
“Her hand was on her driveway and she was laying there,” Villarreal said. “Then a policeman came over and put a yellow cover on her.”
As of early Thursday afternoon, the woman’s name had not been released.
“I think it’s sad because maybe the lady needed help and maybe she could’ve been saved at the last moment,’ Villarreal said, reflecting on what happened.
After the crash, officers went door to door in the neighborhood, looking for security camera video or any other witnesses they might find.
A preliminary report described the car that hit the woman and pickup driver as a light-colored SUV. Officers at the scene said it was gray in color.
The Automobile Association of America (AAA) offers numerous tips for staying safe after a crash or car trouble on the road.
That advice includes only exiting your car if it is safe to do so; turning on your hazard lights to warn other drivers; immediately taking care on any injuries but not moving anyone who is badly hurt; and calling 911 for help right away.
Anyone who has information on the driver who left the scene of the Babcock Road crash is asked to call SAPD at 210-207-7273, or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (7867).