A 62-year-old woman died after she was hit by three cars near Cave Creek Road and Thunderbird. You would probably think that after hitting an older woman, the person who did would at least stop for humanity's sake. Or that the second person who hit her might stop and call police.
You'd be wrong.
It wasn't until Gale Whitney was hit by a third car that the driver stopped and called the cops.
In baseball .333 is a great batting average; as far as basic human decency goes, that just sucks.
The crazy part is that the first driver, assuming he or she wasn't drunk (or in the country illegally, of course), probably wouldn't have been in any trouble.
Phoenix Police Department spokesman Tommy Thompson says Whitney was trying to cross mid-block as the sun was going down, and while what happened is tragic, it was probably her fault.
"When you cross the street mid-block, you're playing Russian roulette with a two- or three-ton bullet coming straight at you," Thompson says. "When someone is crossing the street mid-block and they get hit, they're generally the person responsible."
Thompson says he doesn't know whether the second driver to hit Whitney knew that he or she had hit a person, but the first driver must have.
The driver of the first car stopped briefly, and then fled the scene, going south on Cave Creek Road, according to police.
Considering how the woman was hit and the probable damage to the first car, it is highly unlikely that the driver wouldn't have realized he or she had hit someone, Thompson says.
The driver of the third car that hit Whitney didn't stop immediately, Thompson says, but went back to the scene shortly after, concerned that what he had hit could have been a person.
Police are looking for a two-toned 90s model Nissan Altima or Maxima with extensive front-end damage and possibly a broken windshield.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Phoenix Police Department at (602) 262-6151 or Silent Witness at (480) WITNESS. For Spanish, call (480) TESTIGO.
