Clues sought in hit-and-run crash that injured 2 in Bellingham
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Police here are searching body shops, looking for clues into a hit-and-run crash that left two college students injured.
One of the victims, Mackenzie O'Brien, nearly lost her arm in the accident. She now has stitches in several places, including in her ear where her earring ripped through.
"Who would just do that?" said O'Brien, a freshman at Western Washington University. "We could have been killed. Were they just going to drive off, thinking that we were dead?"
O'Brien and her friend, Justine Phillipson, got off a bus Friday night in the fog and headed toward a house party with a group when a car coming down the hill with its headlights off hit the women.
"I was so in shock, I was crying. My arm was dangling from me. Hurt so bad, and everyone was screaming," said O'Brien.
Phillipson suffered bruises and a concussion. But O'Brien's condition was far worse.
"I saw her and my heart just stopped," said the victim's father, Dale O'Brien.
Dale said Mackenzie's humerus bone broke all the way through and blood stopped flowing in her right side, sparking concerns that her bone had pierced an artery and her arm might require amputation.
"There was a little bone sticking through my skin," said Mackenzie.
Conditions were too foggy to airlift Mackenzie, so an ambulance transported the 18-year-old victim to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where surgeons saved her arm.
The injury is cutting short her first year in college.
"Yeah, it's sad," said Mackenzie.
Mackenzie says she might have forgiven the driver had he or she come forward.
"Honestly, that's so selfish. I would never do that, even with an animal. Most people stop and figure out what happened."
The family is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case.
"They hit my beautiful daughter, and there needs to be penalties," said Dale.
Witnesses believe the car was a dark green or gray older boxy model, maybe a Honda Civic or a Volvo.
One of the victims, Mackenzie O'Brien, nearly lost her arm in the accident. She now has stitches in several places, including in her ear where her earring ripped through.
"Who would just do that?" said O'Brien, a freshman at Western Washington University. "We could have been killed. Were they just going to drive off, thinking that we were dead?"
O'Brien and her friend, Justine Phillipson, got off a bus Friday night in the fog and headed toward a house party with a group when a car coming down the hill with its headlights off hit the women.
"I was so in shock, I was crying. My arm was dangling from me. Hurt so bad, and everyone was screaming," said O'Brien.
Phillipson suffered bruises and a concussion. But O'Brien's condition was far worse.
"I saw her and my heart just stopped," said the victim's father, Dale O'Brien.
Dale said Mackenzie's humerus bone broke all the way through and blood stopped flowing in her right side, sparking concerns that her bone had pierced an artery and her arm might require amputation.
"There was a little bone sticking through my skin," said Mackenzie.
Conditions were too foggy to airlift Mackenzie, so an ambulance transported the 18-year-old victim to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where surgeons saved her arm.
The injury is cutting short her first year in college.
"Yeah, it's sad," said Mackenzie.
Mackenzie says she might have forgiven the driver had he or she come forward.
"Honestly, that's so selfish. I would never do that, even with an animal. Most people stop and figure out what happened."
The family is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the case.
"They hit my beautiful daughter, and there needs to be penalties," said Dale.
Witnesses believe the car was a dark green or gray older boxy model, maybe a Honda Civic or a Volvo.
Kind of OTT but I'm more shocked everyday at the number of idiots driving our roads around Puget Sound. Too many people just don't give a damn about how their actions affect other people on the road. We need a lot more cops or some way for the DOL to take drivers licenses away from these morons!
 @SensationaLies It's not just Puget Sound...
Back in my day it was a pleasure and safe to take an evening stroll.
I hope they catch that idiot....I did notice a lot of cars driving in the fog without any lights on whatsoever...
they should be pulled over and ticketed...
The same kind of POS that hit and killed my aunt on new years in north bend and they still haven't turned them selves in. There are people who know more than they are saying but just be glad the victims survived and not buried in the ground like my aunt lucinda!
Thoughts are with the injured and her friends and family. What kind of POS hits people and just drives off...
"Who would just do that?" A low life scum sucking coward.
I don't understand why this (also shown on TV) just glances over a big part of the issue here.. CARS HEADLIGHTS WERE NOT TURNED ON .. AND.. it was foggy!?!??!?! I see this WAY too much around Seattle - lots and lots of cars driving around with no headlights turned on. I wish 1. people started to learn how their car work and how to use it and 2. cops start giving tickets - for one headlight out and no headlights! The police could make lots of money giving these tickets out and would make the streets safer.. a few months back I saw a Prius with no headlights driving the wrong way down a one way street downtown! PLEASE TICKET THESE PEOPLE!
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Komo - please also do a better job of reporting the possible causes of preventable accidents like this.. I don't see a single thought going into the story on why it might have happened.
 @philbeeeeee KOMO is NEWS reporting agency. (actually, it's a advertising agency, but that's besides the point)
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In any case, what you are suggesting sounds great for a column of some sort, but does not belong in a news story.
 @philbeeeeee Cops have to be there to see it happen unfortunately. I see all kinds of bone head stupid moves by ignorant drivers. No one uses their brain anymore. I sometimes honk or at least give them the finger and hope they notice.
I am so glad both girls are going to be alright. How frightening! I would wager that the vehicle is someone who does not live far from that spot.
@Thunder I agee! It is a small street that has mostly houses and apartments off of it! No one just uses it to get from place to place! So hopefully we can use the location to trace them to the accident
Yea, it's hard to remember to turn on those headlights when your stoned.
 @Ankle Biter ... same when you're drunk.
Prayers to you, sweet girl.
 @Throbbinhood the early 1990's civics are very boxy. I love you Kenz, stay strong!
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 @Wildstar  @Justine Phillipson  @Throbbinhood Yes I agree. I didnt see a Honda Civic front coming at me (witnesses were the ones who said that was a possibility) I think it was a volvo or even an early 90's Mercedes or even a mid 90's sentra or Buick. I briefly remember rectangular headlights and small grill i think (but it was dark, the headlights were off, and it was a brief second and I was knocked out after I got hit, so my memory isn't 100%). And thanks! I hope we find them too! Bellingham is a tight knit community so I am sure that someone knows something. By talking about it and spreading the word, we are only helping find this mad person!
 @Justine Phillipson Dam, woman, YOU stay strong!! Thought that name looked familiar like I'd just seen it seconds ago... :D
Glad you're both going to be OK, and seriously hope they find this sorry little coward. Probably waiting it out 'til blood is cleared of whatever substance they were on, driving with no headlights.Â
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If the automatic one-year license suspension when refusing the Breathalyzer is deemed constitutional (which it certainly should), it should be automatic AT LEAST one year for hit and run, since the vast majority of those pathetic cowards are indeed avoiding another impaired driving charge.Â
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Hang in there, give your friend a big hug and both of you, feel better soon!Â
Modern medicine. So glad for her she kept her arm. That's a little miracle.
I never really regarded a Honda Civic as a boxy car...
 @Throbbinhood I had a 77 hatchback that was "boxy".
Reprehensible. I really hope they catch whoever did this. I guess people have always been sinking as low as this, and maybe it's just hitting me harder today, but jeez...
Sickening. Shame on you. Come forward now before your spot in Hell gets warmer.