Driver sought in deadly hit-and-run in Rhawnhurst
RHAWNHURST (WPVI) -- Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a man in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia.
It happened around 1:45 a.m. Sunday at Castor and Bleigh avenues.
Witnesses tell Action News the victim was walking with a group of people to his car when the driver of a white Chevy Impala came barreling down the road and hit him.
Police say the 51-year-old man's body dented the hood and smashed the windshield of the car.
The man was thrown approximately 50 feet, police say.
A resident, who didn't want his face on camera, says he sprinted to the intersection to help where the victim was barely breathing.
"I go there to help him. By the time I go there, the ambulance is coming," the man said.
Medics rushed the victim to Aria Health Torresdale Campus where he died of his injuries.
"I stepped out toward the edge of the side walk and all I saw was the cop car," said Shanna Botelho, Dimensions employee.
Shanna Botelho was inside Dimensions, but never heard the crash. She says she only saw police lights steps from the sports bar.
"I said to the security guard, 'What happened?' He said someone got into a hit-and-run, and there's a flip-flop on the street," said Botelho.
The car was seen doing a 360 turn before coming to a complete stop and speeding off.
Detectives say the driver abandoned the car blocks away at Horrocks Street and Shelmire and fled on foot.
Humberto Morales lives across the street from where the Impala was discovered.
"I see the cop cars came, they surround the car, then they kept looking at the front like it must have hit something. I never seen that car there before. I knew that car didn't belong on the block," said Morales.
Police are processing the vehicle to find the owner.
