Construction Worker Recovering After Hit-And-Run On I-95; Driver Still At Large
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Police are looking for the driver who nearly killed a construction worker on the side of I-95 this weekend.
Derek Valcourt has more on what happened and the search for a suspect.
Luckily that victim is in recovery at Shock Trauma, and he's expected to survive after someone struck him and kept on going.
Construction worker Ricardo Jobes is recovering from a shattered leg and a dislocated elbow after a car slammed into him early Saturday morning.
It happened just after midnight along the southbound lane of Interstate 95 just prior to the Caton Avenue exit.
The two left-most lanes were blocked off as Jobes began laying down new striping on a section of the highway. That's when a car veered into the blocked lanes and struck him.
"It could have been far worse," said Sgt. Kirk Perez, MDTA Police. "The equipment they were operating, it was himself and one other employee. It just so happened that the other employee was facing traffic. Mr. Jobes had his back to traffic. One of them was able to get out of the way. Unfortunately, Mr. Jobes was not able to get out of the way in time."
Police say the accident happened so fast that the construction workers were not able to get a good description of the vehicle or a license plate number.
The crash reconstruction experts believe it was a GM sedan, possibly a gold or silver Pontiac Grand Prix.
Police say it would have damage to the right front headlamp area. They need the public's help finding it.
"We just want to advise anyone traveling through any construction zones to slow their speeds down," Perez said.
That's because work zones can be dangerous.
In 2010, Maryland registered 1,700 crashes in highway work zones, injuring 833 people, killing six.
That's part of the reason why lawmakers agreed to allow speed cameras in construction zones, hoping to slow down traffic.
Jobes is in stable condition. He's engaged to be married this June and is hoping his leg will heal enough to walk down the aisle.
Anyone with information on the crash is urged to call Maryland Transportation Authority Police. That phone number is 410-537-1208.
