Fire and police vehicles and Wilkes-Barre City police are seen on South Main Street following a hit-and-run incident involving a pedestrian on Wednesday afternoon.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Woman left seriously injured in WB street by car believed stolen
Caution tape blocks off the intersection of South Main Street and Northampton Street after a pedestrian was reportedly struck by a vehicle that then fled the scene.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Some vehicle debris and a shoe, seen in the middle of South Main and Northampton Streets.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Police are seen in the area of Northampton and Sherman streets, Wilkes-Barre, where the suspect in Wednesday’s hit-and-run is believed to have stopped to drop off a passenger while fleeing from police.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — City police are looking for the driver of a vehicle that struck a woman in the intersection of South Main Street and Northampton Street around 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police responded to the intersection for reports that a vehicle had struck a pedestrian and then fled the scene. Officers at the scene performed life-saving measures on the woman, who was observed to be in serious condition, until medics arrived.
The victim was transported from the scene; there was no word on her condition Wednesday night.
The suspect hasn’t been identified by name, but is described by police as a Black male, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 and approximately 220 pounds. He’s may possibly be from New York, and was wearing a dark jacket, cream-colored pants and has gold teeth.
According to a release posted to the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department’s Facebook page, the initial investigation into the incident revealed that the vehicle that hit the woman was a stolen vehicle that fled a traffic stop in the area of South Empire Street earlier.
The vehicle, which was allegedly being operated illegally, was stopped with three individuals in the car. Officers detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
While officers were attempting to identify the passenger of the vehicle with the original driver of the vehicle out of the car, the passenger jumped into the driver’s seat and fled the scene.
A subsequent pursuit led officers to Stanton Street, where they lost sight of the vehicle, and then to Sherman Street. It was later determined that the driver had driven to the area of Sherman Street and East Northampton Street to drop off the third individual, a female who had still been in the car when the suspect initially fled from police.
Police have determined that the vehicle fled west on Northampton Street and attempted to go around a vehicle stopped at the intersection of Northampton and South Main streets. The driver sped through the red light at the intersection and struck the woman as she attempted to cross the street.
The driver abandoned the vehicle in the area of South Street and River Street, where officers were able to locate it, and reportedly broke into a nearby residence in an attempt to flee the scene.
Officers also responded to the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center on Wilkes University’s campus at South Street and River Street to investigate reports that the suspect had entered the building. A search of the building by city and campus police turned up negative.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Wilkes-Barre Police Department at 570-208-4200, or call 911.
