"You have to have a conscience." Family pleads for help tracking down hit-and-run driver

"You hit him, and then you just kept driving, like it didn't matter to you," said the victim's sister.

Katie Katro Image
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Family pleads for help tracking down hit-and-run driver
Forty-one-year-old Mario Urroz was hit on the 100 block of East Clearfield Street in North Philadelphia around 6:10 p.m. on July 22.

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police and family members are pleading for the public's help after a man was struck by a hit-and-run driver in North Philadelphia.



Forty-one-year-old Mario Urroz was hit on the 100 block of East Clearfield Street around 6:10 p.m. on July 22.



Mario Urroz


Police released surveillance of the incident. Investigators think the driver, who never bothered to stop, may have been behind the wheel of a silver Mitsubishi, possibly an early 2000s-era Gallant.



The car may have damage to the passenger-side rearview mirror and headlight, as well as bumper and hood damage on the right side.



Pictured: The vehicle being sought for the hit-and-run of Mario Urroz on July 22 in North Philadelphia.


"It's disturbing. It's disturbing to us as human beings - and we're police officers and we see a lot of it - and sometimes it bothers you," said Capt. Mark Overwise, the commanding officer of the accident and investigation division for Philadelphia police. "I mean it really bothers you, but we have a job to do."



The family of Urroz spoke only with Action News, as they pleaded for the driver to come forward.



"How can someone just hit someone?" said Thelma Urroz, the victim's sister.



Thelma said her brother was walking to pick up dinner in an area he frequently walks around in when the driver struck him.





"You hit him, and then you just kept driving, like it didn't matter to you," Thelma said. "You have to have a conscience."



The family said Mario Urroz is immobile now, fighting for his life at Temple University Hospital.



"I can't even describe the pain that we first felt when it first happened. It was heartbreaking, and it is seeing my brother there not able to speak, just one eye open," said Thelma.



Police said there were many people in the area at the time of the incident and are asking for anyone with information to come forward.

Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.