Driver pulls woman from passenger seat before fleeing scene of deadly Northeast Philadelphia crash
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 35-year-old woman was killed in a crash on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia early Friday morning. Police say the driver fled the scene.
Witnesses told police the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed before the car crashed and overturned. Police describe the car as a gray Toyota Scion.
First on CBS3, surveillance video shows the sedan speeding down the Boulevard.
Video shows the car appears to run a red light along Roosevelt Boulevard before a big crash.
"It sounded like an airplane hitting the ground," one man said.
Police say the crash happened just before 3 a.m. Friday morning on the Boulevard near Devereaux Avenue in Oxford Circle. The car's bumper and other parts were left behind on the grassy median. A sign was also bent after the incident.
"I live right here on the Boulevard here and it's just incredible how fast they go," another man said.
Witnesses described to police seeing a man in the driver's seat of a blue Scion as it swerved, went over the center median, hit a light pole and flipped over.
After the crash, police say a man got out of the driver's seat and pulled the woman from the car.
Police say it appears the driver then tried to unsuccessfully pull the license plate off. Instead, police say he left DNA evidence behind.
"There is blood on the license plate and you can clearly see that the license plate was completely bent up," Chief Inspector Scott Small said. "Someone, it appears, tried to tear that license plate from the back of the vehicle."
The driver then ran from the scene. Minutes later, when officers arrived, the woman was pronounced dead. Officers are now searching for the driver.
"We're pretty confident we're going to be able to identify the driver based on the ID that was in the vehicle and the witnesses, what they saw," Small said.
Police have not yet released the identity of the driver or the woman who died.
"I hope they find him, I hope they find him," a man said.