A woman’s legs were crushed by a hit-and-run driver and now she fears the driver will never be brought to justice because of who she is and where she is from. Ray Villeda reports.
What to Know
- Glenda Escobar, who is from Honduras and came to America 15 years ago, was injured by a hit-and-run driver in Queens back in June
- Escobar was protected under DACA, though is now undocumented, and says the driver won't be brought to justice because of who she is
- The NYPD says Escobar couldn’t identify the driver and the video doesn’t clearly show the driver either; the case was closed on Friday
A hit-and-run victim says she thinks the driver who hit her won’t be brought to justice because of who she is and where she is from.
Glenda Escobar is from Honduras and came to America 15 years ago. She was protected under DACA, though is now undocumented, and is speaking exclusively to NBC 4 New York now that her case is closed without a suspect or an arrest. Escobar’s lawyer, Charles Wisell, thinks there is some bias.
“I think a lot of this stems from the fact that there’s a very anti-immigrant policy going on right now,” Wisell said. “It’s like a climate of anti-immigrant.”
Escobar, a mother of two, was left needing to use a cane and has had major knee surgeries after the hit-and-run pinned her between another car in Queens back in June. The collision left her on the ground in pain as the driver sped away.
“In that moment the first thing I thought of were my kids,” Escobar told NBC 4 New York in Spanish. “I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to walk again.”
The NYPD says Escobar couldn’t identify the driver and the video doesn’t clearly show the driver either.
Local
“According to the (police) report, they spoke to the owner of the car, but that doesn’t mean they owner was driving. So, they don’t have the legal authority to make an arrest,” the NYPD said in a statement to News 4.
Wisell said it was a combination of “lazy police work” and a witness who didn’t have the “wherewithal to say what’s going on.”
Escobar’s case was closed on Friday. No arrests have been made.
