Suspected DUI Driver Struck Skateboarder, Drove With Her For Miles Before Taking Off On Foot
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A skateboarder was still recovering Friday after getting struck by a suspected DUI driver, crashing through the windshield, and being driven for miles.
Police say 27-year-old Angel Huerta of Sacramento was behind the wheel, already on parole for DUI.
Remnants of the accident scene still littered Auburn Boulevard in Citrus Heights Friday.
"It's insane," said Michelle Mcallister.
Mcallister was just getting home Thursday evening and wasn't sure how bad the crash was.
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"[There were] probably about 15 police officers. And it looked like almost a DUI checkpoint," she said.
It wasn't a DUI checkpoint, but the crime scene where a suspected DUI driver allegedly slammed into a 27-year-old female skateboarder, according to Citrus Heights police.
Police don't yet know how fast Huerta was going but say he hit the skateboarder so hard that she flew right through his windshield into the back of his car, and survived.
"Thank God she's alive," said Mcallister.
But it didn't stop there. Police say the suspect kept driving for three miles before pulling over in a residential neighborhood, where he took off running, leaving the victim in the wrecked car suffering from major injuries.
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And it wasn't a witness who called for help. It was the victim herself.
"That is even more amazing. She had the wherewithal and the strength and ability to call 911 from her cell somehow," said Citrus Heights Police Lt. David Gutierrez.
And it didn't take long, but police spotted the suspect walking in the area, also injured. He's now facing a new DUI charge, plus violating parole, hit and run, and kidnapping.
"It 's something hard to believe... she's absolutely lucky," said Gutierrez.
Neighbors are just as shocked, guarded, and motivated to get the city to install a new intersection on busy Auburn Boulevard.
"They've got to do something... got to do something," Mcallister said.