Driver Accused Of Hitting, Dragging Woman For Three Miles Held On $5K Bail
BOSTON (CBS) -- A Sandwich woman accused of hitting two people early monday morning in Chinatown and dragging one for approximately three miles was arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court.
Xiao Ying Zhou, 44, was charged with two counts of leaving the scene of a collision causing personal injury. Zhou, who covered her head with a black jacket in court and required a Mandarin translator, was held on $5,000 bail.
Police say Zhou hit the two victims, a 56-year-old man, Qi Lun Feng and a 48-year-old woman, Yue Yin Gong, at Kneeland Street and Harrison Avenue around 1:40 a.m. Monday.
Both victims remained hospitalized Monday afternoon. Prosecutors said the woman, who was dragged three miles from Chinatown to Dorchester, was alive and in critical condition.
Prosecutor says woman who was dragged for about 3 miles from Chinatown to Dorchester in #Boston, is ALIVE, limited use of arms. #wbz
— Christina Hager (@HagerWBZ) February 1, 2016
The man was transported to Tufts Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
A few minutes after they received the first call, police responded to Columbia Road in Dorchester to a report of a woman struck. They determined that this was the same woman who had been struck in Chinatown.
"(The) Investigation determined that that victim was in fact the female who was hit in Chinatown (while she was on foot with the male victim) and that she was dragged by the vehicle to the Columbia Road location," State Police spokesman Dave Procopio said in a statement.
Procopio said that the victim was dragged from Kneeland Street to Columbia Road via Route 93 southbound.
Prosecutors said a witness saw Zhou stop in Columbia Circle, look under her SUV where the woman had been dragged, and then drive away.
Zhou's lawyer says Zhou wasn't aware of the incident.
Zhou's attorney says she wasn't aware of the accident, she attempted to help female victim who was dragged under the SUV
— Bernice Freedman (@BerniceNews) February 1, 2016
"I called the cops in (and I said) I don't see anybody's head, I don't see anybody's body. I don't know what's going on, it's like an animal or someone under her car and that's when the cops came over here. Its seems like she had been dragging her for over like a mile," witness Elizabeth Amas told WBZ-TV.
Amas said it took several minutes to get the woman out from underneath the car. She was rushed to Boston Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. At noon, police said she was still alive.
Police seized the SUV at Massachusetts Avenue and Columbia Road and later towed it.
Zhou is due back in court February 26.