Hamilton Heights Hit-And-Run Victim "Never Saw" Driver

Yesterday morning, a woman was struck by a SUV as she was crossing Amsterdam Avenue near West 145th Street. The victim, identified as Debbie Evans, was initially reported as dead—the Daily News reported, "The impact - which knocked Evans out of her shoes - instantly killed the mother of two, police said." However, WABC 7 says the 48-year-old woman is in a coma (the NYPD just told us, per their latest update from yesterday, that Evans was in critical condition; they are still waiting for today's update). At any rate, police are searching for the driver of a gray or silver SUV. One witness told the News, "I saw an SUV hit her, a little old lady walking across the street... The car was going faster than it should be; she never saw him. It's a travesty." Related: We're hearing some reports that a pedestrian was struck at Amsterdam near West 143rd around 7:30 a.m. this morning.

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By Jen Chung in News on July 21, 2009 8:08 AM

Comments [rss]

Gwinny

Yeah, I think there was another incident this morning... I was crossing Amsterdam at W 144 at 7:45 and there was a weird circle of police cars a bit further down the block... they must've been encircling the person who was hit :(

UpperEastSighed

I don't care whether she was jaywalking or not: She is a victim, and I'm blaming the driver of the SUV who hit her and then sped off. What kind of person does that? Why are you driving an SUV in the city in the first place? Because you are completely insecure and have no other way to prove yourself?

eager2

It's a *tragedy*, not a travesty. There is a difference.

I know the old woman is in a coma, but that's no reason to suspend proper English usage.

Rocknrope

Perhaps you should address that to the witness who said it, since that was a quote. In fact, spend the rest of the day looking for him to point out the grammatical error in his statement to the News.

schizofriendly

I'm always jaywalking with the stupid delusion that something like this won't happen to me.

GOP

A lot of jaywalking does go on up there. More than usual. Not saying the driver wasn't a mfer (he was), but I'm just sayin'.

mrguy

I said it yesterday too: you're right, jaywalking is epidemic up there. People jaywalk without even looking to see if a car is coming. The attitude is "i'm in the street, and nobody's better hit me".

People also speed on amsterdam ave along that stretch, plus, factor in tons of double-parked cars and tricky shadows... it's a recipe for carnage.