Hit and Run Hero: Bloomberg Staffer Erinn Phelan Sacrifices Life to Save Friend
Photo: Erinn Phelan.
Police say that the women were walking in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Prospect Heights at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday when a speeding Acura hit them and kept on going.
Both women were rushed to The Kings County Hospital. Phelan, 22, was later declared brain-dead, and Guerrero, 23, suffered a broken collarbone but was in stable condition and expected to recover, according to the Daily News.
Guerrero and Phelan graduated from Brown University and were both civic minded. Phelan was hired last year to help run New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new NYC Civic Corps, and Guerrero is a first-year medical student at Brown and a founder of Frida Inc., a nonprofit that uses art to promote higher education.
A New York cab driver is also being called a hero because he witnessed the hit-and-run and followed the driver. The Daily News reported that a 40-year-old taxi driver who asked to be identified only as Muhammad was able to get the license plate number, after the driver abandoned the car, and called the cops.
Police say the registered owner, Cindy Jasmin, had been previously arrested for driving with a suspended license. They have not been able to find Jasmin but say they are actively looking for her.