Update, 4:10 p.m. Oct. 1: Anchorage police on Thursday identified the pedestrian who died in a hit-and-run in South Anchorage on Sept. 23 as Carolyn Nick, 26. Next of kin have been notified, police said.
Original story:
A teenager charged in a fatal pedestrian hit-and-run collision in South Anchorage on Wednesday morning told police that a woman jumped in front of the car as he drove, and that he fled the scene because he was “scared," according to court filings in the case.
Cameron D. Mike, 18, has been charged with failure to render aid in the hit-and-run death of the pedestrian near Brayton Drive early Wednesday, police said.
The name of the victim had not been released late Wednesday.
Charging documents in the case describe what happened according to prosecutors: At 1:12 a.m., police dispatchers received a call about an “unconscious woman” in the road near Brayton Drive and Helgelien Loop. Police had earlier said the incident happened at a slightly different location, Brayton Drive and Academy Drive.
Police found a woman dead in the street. She was barefoot and had an injury to her head, according to the charging document. Police also found a bouquet of roses and a small metal box with a rose clasp scattered around her body, along with chrome vehicle debris and a full license plate, the charges say.
The owner of the license plate told police his son, age 16, had borrowed the family Ford Explorer the previous evening. The 16-year-old wasn’t named.
The 16-year-old told police he picked up Mike, who he said is his friend, and the two drove around Anchorage for hours, stopping to switch drivers before midnight, according to the charges. Later, traveling down Brayton Drive, Mike hit an “unknown object,” the 16-year-old told investigators.
Police called Mike, who told a different story: that they’d been driving down Brayton Drive when a woman jumped into the road.
“Mike claimed it appeared the female attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the road,” the charging document says. “Mike claimed he wanted to stop to check on the female, but (the 16-year-old) convinced him to keep driving.”
“Mike said he drove the Explorer to his home because he was scared,” the charging document says.
A sample of Mike’s breath registered no trace of alcohol, but he admitted to smoking marijuana earlier in the evening, according to the charges. Blood toxicology tests have not yet been returned.
“Depending on the results of that test, and other information gathered during the course of the ongoing investigation, more charges may be forthcoming,” police said in the alert.
Police have announced no other charges in the case.