The driver of a Chevy Blazer reportedly left an injured passenger injured and trapped in his SUV after losing control of the vehicle and rolling it over on the High Rise Bridge in Chesapeake, Virginia (VA). The accident occurred shortly after 2 am near the exit off I-64 to Bainbridge Boulevard.
The driver climbed out of his wrecked vehicle and fled on foot but did not go into the Elizabeth River or any other surrounding body of water. City police officers and Virginia state troopers continued to search for the man throughout the morning.
Fortunately, the passenger could be freed and did not suffer life-threatening injuries. He did, however, have to go to the hospital. If caught, the driver may face charges for fleeing the scene of an accident, traffic violations such as speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or inflicting injuries on another person.
A one-vehicle hit-an-run accident is not a rare occurrence, but it is always shocks my Virginia personal injury law firm colleagues and I when an at-fault driver runs away from a vehicle in which a friend or family lies hurt and unable to get free. To learn of someone demonstrating that degree of negligence, lack of empathy and unwillingness to help a person close to you is almost inconceivable.
For the sake of the person injured in this Chesapeake wreck, we hope the driver is apprehended and held accountable for hurting someone else and then abandoning that person in his moment of need.
EJL