Elderly Newark Woman Struck By Car During Police Chase, Hospitalized In Serious Condition
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- An elderly woman out for a walk with her dog was seriously injured, when she was struck by a car that police were pursuing.
"Everyday I see her walking the dog, he's in the stroller or she has him walking with a leash," Kathy Pashal told CBS2's Tracee Carrasco.
Fellow pet owners in the Colonnade Apartment complex in Newark said the unidentified 79-year-old Newark woman and her dog are fixtures in the neighborhood.
"We just casually talked out here, very friendly lady," Gladys Paul said.
"She walks around the building or over by the park," Pashal added.
A routine turned tragic when the woman got caught up in a chase. She was hit by a car being pursued by police on Clinton Avenue near Branch Brook Park around 11:45 a.m. Thursday.
The driver was a 20-year-old man. Car parts, broken glass, and a crumpled metal fence were left behind at the scene.
Residents believe that the gold 2002 Nissan Sentra police were after was stolen.
"The police shouldn't be chasing cars, it's a stolen car, eventually they're going to get caught, but now you have an innocent woman, an older woman who, now you don't know what's going to happen," a neighbor said.
The woman was taken to the hospital in serious condition, neighbors hope she'll be okay.
There was another car -- a Mercury Sable -- that was struck as well. The driver and the passenger were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The woman's dog was not injured in the accident. As for the driver police were chasing, that person was custody, but not yet charged.