Woman hit by second vehicle after a hit-and-run in West Philadelphia dies
The victim was struck on Lancaster Avenue at 49th Street, causing her to be flung into a second vehicle that ran her over, police said.
A 58-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a hit-and-run driver and then run over by a second vehicle Tuesday night in the Parkside section of West Philadelphia, police said.
Just before 8:20 p.m., the woman was crossing Lancaster Avenue at 49th Street when someone driving a white Mitsubishi SUV heading westbound at a high speed hit her, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The force of that impact flung the woman into the eastbound side of Lancaster Avenue, causing the driver of a Nissan sedan to also strike her and run her over, Small said. The Nissan driver, a 26-year-old man, remained at the scene.
The woman was identified Wednesday as Darlene Gaston, a Cobbs Creek resident. She was pronounced dead at 8:28 p.m. by responding medics, Small said.
A short time later, an abandoned vehicle matching the description of the white Mitsubishi SUV was located on the 2000 block of Belmont Avenue, Small said.
The vehicle, which was identified as the original hit-and-run Mitsubishi, had jumped a curb and struck and broke a wooden utility pole, Small said.
The driver remained at large.
Hit-and-runs have surged in Philadelphia, with more than 30 fatal incidents in 2022 — a figure that’s tripled when compared with statistics from 2019.
Just last week, two people were fatally struck by hit-and-run drivers in the city.