Man dies, driver flees after high speed crash in Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek neighborhood
A man has died following a crash in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia late Friday night, police say.
The crash happened just before 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of South 57th and Chestnut streets. According to preliminary reports, a blue Ford Explorer was traveling eastbound at a high rate of speed, blew through a red light and slammed into a silver Ford Focus driving southbound.
The impact of the crash caused the Explorer to end up on the sidewalk and the Focus to slam into the back of a parked tractor-trailer.
The Ford Focus driver, who police say was an adult male, was ejected from the car, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Some neighbors said they tried to help the victim shortly after the crash.
"That's sad for anybody to lose their life," said neighbor Paulette Washington.
"I heard a loud bump outside, and then I looked up my window right when I heard the loud crash," said neighbor Elisha Weber.
Weber said he quickly ran outside to try and help before he called 911.
"They brought the fire department out there pretty quickly, but there wasn't much they could do," he said. "That's insane. It's terrifying that somebody would do something like that. I can't imagine what kind of monster would just run away."
The driver of the Explorer was seen fleeing the area on foot following the crash. Police have not yet released a description of the fleeing driver.
While police continue their investigation and search for the driver, neighbors like Washington believe the city also needs to do something about the speeding on Chestnut. She said it's so bad she's scared to let her kids play outside.
"I don't let them play out here. Chesnut Street is too dangerous," said Washington.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Crash Investigation Unit.