RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A 71-year-old man has been charged after a hit-and-run at the intersection of Broad Street and Lombardy Street — just outside Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) campus.
On Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 8:45 a.m., a woman was crossing southbound on West Broad Street when she was struck by a car driven by 71-year-old Garland Childress of Sandston after he had ran a red light. Childress then drove away from the scene.
Investigators located Childress a short time later and he was arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run, with additional charges pending. The conditions of the woman who was hit are unknown.
VCU sophomore student Noah Henrickson lives in the Ascend Apartment complex located right beside the intersection and heard the incident when it happened.
“I heard a loud bang, sort of. And then I heard some people yell, ‘don’t touch them.’ And I instantly sort of thought someone probably got hit,” Henrickson said. “Probably ten, 15 people gathered around an individual on the ground and they weren’t moving.”
According to VCU junior student Faith Galloway, foot traffic is heavy at the intersection, especially as VCU students come to and from class.
“This crosswalk is very well traveled. Not just by like the students as well, but there’s a grocery mart down the street over there. So, a lot of people walk to the grocery mart from their homes and elsewhere,” Galloway said.
Galloway also lives in the Ascend Apartment complex and said when she was coming back from class last week, she almost got hit by a car in the same spot after it had ran the red light.
“Luckily, like none of us got hit or anything, we were all fine walking to the building, but it was a very like, scary realization that it could just happen literally seconds away from me getting inside my building,” Galloway said. “I’ve seen a lot of times, like, cars just nearly missed people like me and then people getting hit. I’m not surprised. It was kind of disappointing that it is continuing to happen.”
The Richmond Police Department Crash Team is continuing to investigate this incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Crash Team Detective Sergeant W. Kress at 804-646-0280.
This is a developing story, stay with 8News for updates.
