Woman in wheelchair killed in hit-and-run crash in Fairmount Park

Investigators are searching for a possibly silver vehicle that struck the pedestrian on Reservoir Drive early Tuesday morning.

A woman using a wheelchair was fatally struck in a hit-and-run crash on the 2200 block of Reservoir Drive in Fairmount Park at 1:46 a.m. Tuesday, police say.
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice

A woman using a wheelchair was fatally struck in a hit-and-run crash in Fairmount Park early Tuesday morning, police said.

The woman was struck at 1:46 a.m. on the 2200 block of Reservoir Drive, near Diamond Street. Police said the force from the crash was so strong that the woman was thrown to the south side of the block and her wheelchair was found in multiple pieces on the opposite side.


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"We know this female was hit with such force she was launched out of one of her boots that she was wearing, because one is on the highway. And 100 feet away she's lying with another boot on," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told 6ABC. "We're hoping our real-time cameras either recorded the vehicle prior to or after striking this female." 

Police said the vehicle was possibly silver based on parts left at the scene. Investigators have not determined which way it was traveling. 

Police said two people pulled up to the scene shortly after the crash and called 911, telling dispatchers that the woman was still semiconscious when they found her. She was pronounced dead at the scene by medics at 1:56 a.m. Her name and age have not been released

Anyone with information can call police at (215) 686-8477.