Police: Girl, 14, Mowed Down By Hit-And-Run Driver In Brooklyn Crosswalk
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The hunt is on for a hit-and-run driver accused of mowing down a 14-year-old girl in a Brooklyn crosswalk.
Sources told CBS2 the woman initially stopped to check on the girl, but then fled the scene.
That teenager is talking about that close call because she wants to help police track down the driver, Dave Carlin reported Sunday.
"It's very painful, and my head sometimes feels pain also," Xin Yi Wang said.
Wang said she may look fully mended from a hit-and-run in traffic that injured her as she walked home from the subway after school on March 27. But the bruises on her torso and others on her legs will be slow to fade. A bump on her head's still there as well, all injuries that could be have been worse considering what the incident looked like on video.
A black Dodge Challenger with Georgia license plates hit the teen in the crosswalk of 47th Street, launching her airborne and hurling her body into the intersection with Ninth Avenue.
The video is disturbing. After watching it, the victim said she'd rather not replay it, as she's haunted by how far she was thrown.
"I see myself just fly on the ground. But in my memory I would say it's just a short distance. But when see the video, it's a long distance flying. I was ... oh my God. I'm lucky I didn't get hit by another car," Wang said.
The victim said the driver spoke to her.
"She say, 'I can help you get to the home.' I said no," Wang said.
Witnesses told police the driver left the scene as someone announced they were calling 9-1-1.
Police said they're searching for a white woman, about 35 to 40 years old, with a medium to heavy build and brown hair.
Wang said she would tell the driver that running away is cowardly.
"You hit the person. You need to take your responsibility for that. You cannot just run away after you hurt someone," she said.
Some of her neighbors said they, too, were upset the driver left the scene.
"It's crazy. It's not a joke. Things could've been even worse," Jonathan Kime said.
"You don't leave someone to get hurt. You don't do that," LaToya Hoyte added.
Wang said she feels lucky to be alive, but added after this traumatic experience she has been left feeling anxiously wary of intersections.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via the Crime Stoppers website, by Tweeting @NYPDTips or by texting a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
