A driver veered off East Martin Street and onto the sidewalk near downtown San Antonio Saturday night, striking a 31-year-old man before speeding away without stopping to help, according to police. The pedestrian was walking westbound near Navarro Street around 9:46 p.m. when he was hit, and he was rushed to a local hospital for treatment.
Police told WOAI that the driver did not stop to render aid after the crash in the 300 block of East Martin Street, and officers are now searching for the vehicle and the person behind the wheel. The victim's current condition has not been released by authorities, and no description of the fleeing car has been made public.
An Investigation Just Beginning
San Antonio Police Department crash investigators typically canvass nearby commercial properties for security footage, gather physical debris left at the scene, and interview witnesses to help trace a fleeing driver, according to the Felix Gonzalez Law Firm. Whether downtown surveillance cameras captured the vehicle's license plate or a usable description remains an open question, as does whether detectives have identified any suspects.
The stretch of East Martin near Navarro sees heavy foot traffic tied to nearby bus stops and commercial buildings, a corridor with its own history of pedestrian safety trouble. In September 2019, high winds collapsed scaffolding near a bus bench on the same block, injuring three people, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
What The Driver Could Face
Under Texas Transportation Code Section 550.021, a driver involved in a crash that causes serious bodily injury who fails to stop and render aid faces a third-degree felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to ConsumerShield. If the pedestrian's injuries do not meet that legal threshold for serious bodily injury, the offense remains punishable by up to five years in state prison or one year in county jail and a fine of up to $5,000, per the Thiessen Law Firm. Which charge level applies will depend on a medical determination of the severity of the 31-year-old's injuries, a distinction prosecutors typically make only after reviewing hospital records.
A City Still Chasing Vision Zero
The crash adds to a grim tally for San Antonio, which recorded 54 pedestrian fatalities and four bicyclist deaths among more than 133 fatal traffic crashes through mid-November of last year, according to San Antonio Transportation Department figures cited by KSAT. The city recognized those victims during World Day of Remembrance events late last year, even as it pushes its Vision Zero Action Plan, first adopted in 2024, and rolled out a High-Injury Network Dashboard in December mapping the street segments with the worst crash concentrations, the city has said.
San Antonio also launched a federal grant-funded campaign called Keep Crossings SAfe in November, placing visual warnings along high-risk corridors identified through city traffic analysis, according to the San Antonio Report. The danger extends well beyond the city limits: statewide, Texas saw 6,095 pedestrian-involved collisions in 2024 that killed 772 people and seriously injured 1,455 more, per the Texas Department of Transportation, with pedestrians accounting for 19 percent of all traffic deaths despite being involved in just 1 percent of crashes.
Bexar County alone logged 48,522 reported crashes in 2024, second in Texas only to Harris County, including 773 crashes with suspected serious injuries and 205 fatal crashes, according to ThatCarHitMe.com. Nationally, 7,148 pedestrians were struck and killed in 2024, with nighttime conditions and hit-and-run collisions remaining prominent risk factors, per the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Part Of A Troubling Pattern
Saturday's crash is the latest in a string of pedestrian hit-and-runs across the San Antonio area this year. Hoodline previously reported on a West Side man hit crossing Old Highway 90 just days earlier, as well as a critical injury near Converse steps from a fatal June hit-and-run, a fatal case near Bandera Road, and another hit-and-run on Grissom Road in Leon Valley. Police have not said whether Saturday's case is connected to any of those earlier incidents.
No arrest has been announced, and no suspect has been named. Anyone with information about the vehicle or driver involved is urged to contact San Antonio police as the search continues.
