Help needed to ID driver

Pam Ruelas left work late on the evening of July 14, made a stop at the post office on Laurens Street and then headed east on Hampton Avenue toward home, when she was blindsided by a large truck that crashed into her Kia and kept on going.

Ruelas said her car was forced up onto the median and spun around. She was trapped inside by the air bags and couldn't move.

"The window was shattered, and I couldn't get out," she recalled. "I was sitting there as cars went by, waving and trying to get help."

Several minutes and motorists passed, and the Aiken County woman said an older man finally stopped to help.

"I was so grateful that he stopped," she said. "Everyone else just kept driving past" including the vehicle that struck her.

The good Samaritan called 911 for the woman and got her help. She spent the rest of the evening at the Medical College of Georgia where she was treated for bumps, bruises and scratches, but she still doesn't know who the driver is who put her there.

The vehicle that struck her was a large white truck with some type of emblem or large sticker on the driver's side door.

Aiken Public Safety officers have been looking in "all the obvious places" for large work-style vehicles, but, as of this week, they haven't found the truck or the driver, said Capt. Wendell Hall.

Ruelas said she's been driving a rental car, but her insurance will have to absorb the cost of her totaled vehicle.

"He should have to pay," she said.

The problem Ruelas is having is that she didn't get a good look at the vehicle. She said everything happened so fast. She is hoping that one of the passing motorists can give police a description of the truck or the driver.

The crash occurred at the corner of Hampton Avenue and Chesterfield Street at 6:50 p.m. July 14.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Capt. Wendell Hall or Capt. Ron Shelley at 642-7620.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.