On Saturday morning ( 7/12 ) at 12:30 am my husband was the victim of a vehicular hit and run. It happened at the intersection of James St. and Washington Ave. ( W. Valley Hwy,181 ) A block north is the Caveman restaurant, a block south is Poppa's Pub and at the intersection there is a 7 -11 store. At the time of the accident my husband was travelling southbound on W. Valley Hwy going 35 mph in a 35 mph zone in the left lane ( the speed limit is 50 mph north of the Caveman and then changes to a 35 mph shortly before the intersection ) when he was quickly approached from behind in the same lane by a driver who obviously didn't feel that the speed limit reduction applied to them. My husband estimates that the other car was travelling between 50 - 60 mph. Right before the intersection my husband noticed headlights fast approaching and attempted to get into the right lane to avoid a collision. The impact occurred in the middle of the intersection , pushing my husbands car through it ,causing the car to come to a stop resting on the sidewalk. The lowlife driver's car then bounced off another car that was travelling northbound then kept going at a high rate of speed towards Auburn without so much as a pause. There were no skid marks to indicate that he hit his brakes. The suspect car is a maroon ( or red ) Lincoln Towncar, 1990 -something ( maybe a 1994 ) with significant damage to the passenger side headlight area. Pieces of the Towncar littered the street and we have one of the larger ones ( shown ) as evidence. The image of the vehicle shown is an approximate representation of the vehicle responsible although the front grill is not stock like in the photo. Witnesses reported a very shiny chrome or maybe gold grill. It was dark, after midnight and happened quickly so some details were hard to discern.
Fortunately my husband was not seriously injured nor was the other driver of the car travelling northbound. He had a mild knee and back injury but is going to be okay. Our car, on the other hand, is a complete loss. We did not have adequate insurance to cover the damages caused by an irresponsible driver so we are left to bear the burden ourselves - cost of the tow, disposal of our car, finding a way for my husband to get to work, getting a new car.
The other driver and this distinctive vehicle is out there and they are guilty of a gross misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident. Someone knows this person. Someone has seen this car. Maybe they are a coworker, the fellow at the gas pump next to you, your neighbor, a customer at your car body repair shop. Maybe you saw them speed off and could give even a partial of the license plate numbers. Please, do the right thing and turn them in. We are offering a $100.00 reward for the tip that leads us to a positive ID of the driver or the vehicle. Its not much but its all that we have to offer. Any leads, no matter how small, will greatly improve our chances of catching this person. You can email tips to hitnrunavenger@yahoo.com
Thank you for help in our pursuit of justice!