INC NEWS - Two more pedestrians hit (one on LaSalle, one at Broad & Perry)

[John Schelp]

Hit-and-run driver leaves woman with critical
injuries: Recent Duke grad one of two to be hit in
under 24 hours
Herald-Sun, 1 October 2006

A recent Duke University graduate was critically
injured when she was hit by a car late Friday on South
LaSalle Street near McQueen Drive, according to
police. 

The vehicle left the scene without stopping, police
said. 

According to police, the accident happened at 11:53
p.m. in front of the Belmont Apartments. Caitlin
Donnelly, 22, from Towaco, N.J., who graduated from
Duke in May, was waiting for a taxi cab and crossed
the street to check on a taxi that had just pulled up.
After Donnelly learned that it was not the cab she had
called, she turned to go back across LaSalle Street. 

As she was crossing the street, Donnelly was struck by
a northbound car that had its headlights off,
according to police. The driver made no attempt to
brake and did not stop after the collision, according
to investigators. The vehicle was described as a
dark-colored sedan, possibly a Honda or Nissan. The
vehicle had damage to the front windshield and was
missing the left side mirror. Witnesses could provide
no description of the driver. 

Donnelly was taken to Duke University Hospital for
treatment of severe head injuries, police said. 

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to
call Durham Police Investigator M.H. Goodwin at (919)
560-4314 or CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.
CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information
leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers do not
have to identify themselves. 

Friday's incident was not the only time a pedestrian
was struck in Durham in a 24-hour period. 

Around 3 p.m. on Saturday, a pedestrian was struck in
the crosswalk at Broad and Perry streets, the same
place 28-year-old Erin Kuhns was struck, dragged and
partially run over by a Cadillac Escalade on Aug. 11.
In that incident, the vehicle's rear wheel ran over
Kuhns' arm and shoulder and grazed her neck, leaving a
scar. 

The young woman struck Saturday did not appear to be
seriously injured. 

City officials plan to ask the state Department of
Transportation for a signal at the Broad and Perry
street intersection. 

Donnelly remained in critical condition Saturday
evening.