ITHACA, N.Y. — A woman struck by a vehicle on Friday night in Ithaca is still hospitalized with injuries sustained in the incident, according to witnesses.
The victim, a resident of the Jungle, was listed in serious condition as of early Saturday morning, according to family members on Facebook. Police issued a press release following the incident describing the suspect’s car as a dark-colored, four-door sedan and that the victim, who they did not identify, had been taken via helicopter to a regional trauma center. Ithaca Police Chief Dennis Nayor said Tuesday morning that there have still not been any arrests made and the investigation is ongoing.
A witness, the victim’s boyfriend, described the incident to the Ithaca Voice. It stemmed from a disturbance outside of a birthday party that was being held for the female victim in the Jungle. Both victim and witnesses are being kept anonymous as the potential victims of a crime.
The suspect, who witnesses say had been kicked out of the Jungle previously, was breaking things and shouting near the entrance to the encampment. Nervous that someone was getting hurt, the woman’s boyfriend said he went to investigate the noises, and a brief altercation between the boyfriend and the suspect followed.
Once the situation had calmed, the female victim was walking the suspect back to his car. Tensions flared again and the suspect attempted to hit the woman’s boyfriend and a third man with the car, stopping when the woman’s boyfriend began hitting the suspect’s car with a baseball bat, according to the victim’s boyfriend. The suspect then accelerated forward at a high rate of speed and struck the woman, who was thrown several feet into the air and landed on her head, according to the boyfriend. The suspect subsequently fled the scene before police arrived.
The victim’s boyfriend said she is still hospitalized and suffered several broken ribs, two fractures to her skull and a fracture to her face; after two days, swelling in her brain was finally reducing as of Sunday night.
Ithaca police have confirmed that they responded to a second leg of the incident, which occurred Sunday night. The victim’s boyfriend, who said he was frustrated by the lack of progress from police in the investigation, went to the Mobil gas station on Meadow Street in Ithaca with a group of associates, believing that to be where the suspect is employed. It is unclear whether the suspect was there at the time. Police were called to the Mobil and arrived on scene, but Nayor said nobody was arrested during that incident either.
Ithaca police are still seeking information about the incident:
Police Dispatch: (607) 272-3245
Police Administration: (607) 272-9973
Police Tipline: (607) 330-0000
Anonymous Email Tip Address: www.cityofithaca.org/ipdtips