A 33-year-old woman was hospitalized after police say a red vehicle swerved off the road and struck her while she was walking on a sidewalk on San Antonio's East Side late Friday night. The driver kept going, leaving the woman injured in the 600 block of North Mel Waiters Way near East Crockett Street.
According to WOAI, the incident happened around 9:40 p.m. Friday, when police say the driver allegedly swerved and struck the woman as she walked along the sidewalk. Police said the red vehicle veered toward her before hitting her, causing what officers described as serious bodily injury.
Police told the station the vehicle continued south on North Mel Waiters Way without stopping to check on the woman. She was transported to a local hospital, where she was reported to be in stable condition. As of the latest update, police had made no arrests, and the investigation remained ongoing.
A Pattern of Sidewalk Strikes on San Antonio's Streets
This is not the first time this year that San Antonio police have investigated a vehicle veering off the roadway and onto a sidewalk to strike a pedestrian. In August, a driver allegedly veered onto a downtown sidewalk and struck a 31-year-old man before fleeing, a case Hoodline covered in its report on the East Martin hit-and-run, in which the search for the vehicle was still underway at the time.
Other recent cases across the city point to a rough stretch for pedestrians. On the Northeast Side in August, police said an elderly man was struck in a crosswalk by a vehicle making a left turn, according to FOX San Antonio. That same case saw the man sustain head injuries after falling, with his condition listed as unknown at the time, per a separate report from the same day.
In July, San Antonio police said a 63-year-old woman died after a southbound vehicle struck her as she crossed South Zarzamora near Gillette Boulevard, a fatal case reported by FOX San Antonio. And in mid-August, a pedestrian was critically injured in a crash on Interstate 10, according to the San Antonio Police Department, as reported by KSAT.
Hit-and-Runs Extend Beyond City Limits
The problem of drivers fleeing after striking pedestrians isn't confined to San Antonio proper. In Socorro, a man in his early 50s was seriously injured in May after being hit by a vehicle that fled the scene, according to CBS4 Local, with police continuing to seek tips in that investigation. And earlier this month, a pedestrian suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car in Corpus Christi, per a report from KRIS-TV.
For now, San Antonio police have not identified the driver or vehicle involved in Friday's East Side crash, and no arrests have been made. The investigation into what led the red vehicle to swerve onto the sidewalk remains ongoing.
