A 54-year-old woman has been arrested in connection to a hit-and-run accident in Chandler that killed a father and son.
AZ Central reports that the Chandler Police Department has arrested Michelle Hagerman of Tempe after she struck and killed a man and his 12-year-old son on Monday night and fled the scene. Court documents indicate that a concerned neighbor contacted police with information that Hagerman’s vehicle described in the crash matched that was released following the crash.
The accident happened when Mohammad Misbah Uddin, 50, and Abdullah Al Faiaz, 12, were walking eastbound across North Alma School Road. Eyewitnesses report that the father and son were in the crosswalk and halfway across when the light for cross traffic heading northbound turned green.
Hagerman reportedly sped through the intersection at speeds between 45 – 50 miles per hour, striking bout Uddin and his son. Uddin was pronounced dead at the scene, while his son, Abdullah was taken to the hospital. The 12-year-old died the following result of injuries he suffered in the crash.
The father and son had arrived in the United States just 10 days before the fatal crash.
Court documents indicate that an anonymous female called the hospital inquiring after the condition of the pedestrians and told the nurse on duty that her husband had been driving the vehicle that struck them. When the nurse refused to answer the woman’s questions and instead referred her to the Chandler Police Department, the woman immediately hung up.
It was after police released the description of a dark-colored Dodge Durango, model years 2012 to 2016 with substantial front end damage that concerned Hagerman’s neighbor and convinced her to contact police.
Hagerman claims that she stopped a short distance from the accident, but when she saw the victims surrounded by other people, she fled the scene. She was the sole occupant of the vehicle at the time of the fatal accident.
Hagerman has been booked into jail and is being held on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving a fatality. Hagerman will likely be facing additional charges in the case.
