PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police are looking for the driver who fatally struck a 58-year-old woman Tuesday night in West Philadelphia and then drove off.
Around 8:15 p.m., the woman was crossing Lancaster Avenue near 49th Street when she was hit by a white Mitsubishi. Police said the car was traveling very fast in the westbound lanes.
The woman was launched to the other side of the street, where she was hit a second time by a Nissan, pinning her under it.
“[The crash] caused her body to be launched into the eastbound lanes, and that’s when this 58-year-old female was struck by a second vehicle,” said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The driver of the Nissan stayed at the scene, but the driver of the Mitsubishi fled.
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Small said the Mitsubishi was tracked down 2 miles away in Fairmount Park, where it had crashed into a pole. The driver, however, was nowhere to be found.
“Police officers in the 16th District found the car parked unattended in the 2000 block of Belmont Avenue,” he said. “A witness from the accident went to that location and was able to positively identify that white Mitsubishi as being the striking vehicle.”
Authorities later identified the victim as Darlene Gaston of Cobbs Creek.
The Crash Investigation Division is actively investigating.