Woman in wheelchair killed in another fatal hit-and-run crash

A woman in a wheelchair was killed in Fairmount Park early Tuesday morning in yet another hit-and-run, police said, the latest in a recent string of such crashes that have left several people dead and investigators searching for the drivers.

The woman, who police said was in her 40s, was hit by a person driving a silver car on the 2200 block of Reservoir Drive at 1:46 a.m., said Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. The woman, whom police did not identify, suffered injuries to her head and other parts of her body, Chief Inspector Scott Small said at the scene.

She was pronounced dead minutes later, at 1:56 a.m., said Vanore.

The impact was so great that the woman was flung 100 feet, said Small. A medical boot she had been wearing was found that distance from her body, he said.

The woman’s wheelchair was found nearby, shattered, police said.

Police are still investigating and searching for the silver car, said Vanore.

The fatal crash was at least the third hit-and-run in the last four days.

On Sunday night, a woman was killed in a hit-and-run in North Philadelphia. Police responded to a report of a fatal crash at North Fifth Street and West Indiana Avenue.

Investigators learned a person driving a silver Hyundai Sonata north on North Fifth Street struck a 42-year-old pedestrian as the driver made a left turn onto West Indiana Avenue, police said. The woman, whom police did not identify, was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead later that night.

The passengers in the Sonata fled on foot, police said. No arrests have been made, and police continue to investigate.

Early Saturday morning, three nurses tending to a shooting victim outside Penn Presbyterian Medical Center were seriously injured in yet another hit-and-run.

Police said a driver in a silver Jeep Cherokee arrived at Penn Presbyterian’s ambulance bay area to drop off a 28-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds. As the nurses gathered to provide first aid to the shooting victim, the driver struck them before fleeing the scene, police said.

A 36-year-old nurse suffered facial injuries and internal bleeding and was in critical condition, police said. A 37-year-old nurse suffered injuries to his legs, and a 51-year-old nurse suffered injuries to his head and back. They are in stable condition, police said.

The shooting victim — who police said was wounded on the 1300 block of Belmont Avenue — may have suffered a head injury as the driver fled, police said.

On Oct. 7, a 56-year-old man was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver as he walked along Broad Street in North Philadelphia, police said.

The man, whom police did not identify, was hit by a car on the 3900 block of North Broad Street, police said. He was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center and was pronounced dead within minutes.

Police later found what they believe to be the car that struck him, a 2013 Nissan Sentra, under a tarp in the area of 5200 North 11th Street, police said.

No arrests have been made, and police continue to investigate.

And last month, police said, a driver struck and killed 14-year-old Dawn Watson as she walked with her mother in West Philadelphia. Watson was headed home from a store with her mother and crossing the street on the 6500 block of Haverford Avenue, police said, when she was struck by someone driving a dark-colored sedan at a high rate of speed.

The teen, who was just blocks from home, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A few days after Watson was killed, a tip led authorities to the suspect’s car, a 2011 Mercedes-Benz E 350, on the 5800 block of Girard Avenue, covered by a tarp. Investigators identified the man they say killed the girl as Marvin Wicker.

Tips from the community led investigators to find Wicker hiding in a back room in a rooming house in Germantown on Thursday. He was charged with vehicular homicide and related crimes.

Despite the recent surge in hit-and-runs, such incidents have decreased since last year, according to police data.

As of Tuesday, there had been 473 hit-and-run crashes in Philadelphia, the data show. Last year through the same time period, there were 588, according to the data.

Through Oct. 15 last year, there were 36 fatal hit-and-run, while through the same time this year there have been 26, police data show.

Anyone with information about these incidents can contact the police at 215-686-8477 or the department’s Crash Investigation Division at 215-684-3180.