HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A woman says she heard screaming just moments after a pedestrian was struck and then pinned by an SUV near the intersection of Nine Mile Road and Pleasant Road in Henrico Friday night.
Charmaine Smith said she heard the crash.
"When you hit a body, you wouldn't think it's that loud, but it was actually real loud,” Smith said.
Smith lives across from the busy intersection where the fatal accident happened.
Charmaine Smith points to where the fatal accident happened.
"When I came out, I heard...it was few minutes and a car was out there," she said. "Then I heard someone holler... She was just hollering because I guess the way the man was pinned up under the truck."
Henrico police responded to the emergency call at the intersection of Nine Mile Road and Pleasant Street after witnesses reported seeing the victim being struck from behind by an SUV.
Investigators said the man became pinned under the vehicle. In fact, firefighters had to use special equipment to lift the SUV from him.
The victim, whose name has not yet been released, was transported to VCU Medical Center, but died from his injuries Saturday morning.
The accident scene.
Smith was saddened to hear the victim had died. While she has seen a number of accidents at the intersection, she said there has never been one involving a pedestrian.
Smith, who works at the nearby Dollar General, and walks to work is now vowing to be careful.
"Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes or 5 minutes," Smith said. "So I try to be safe by just waiting to make sure nothing's coming..."
And with a new Walmart being built at the site of the former Fairfield Commons Mall, Smith worries increased traffic could mean more accidents.
"I know it's going to be outrageous," she said. "Everybody's excited about it, but I'm kind of not."
