Police Urge Driver Who Struck Girl To Come Forward
SANTA ANA (CBS) — Police Wednesday urged a hit-and-run driver to come forward after critically injuring a teenage girl two days prior.
Teresa Pham, 13, who was expected to survive, was hit while riding her bicycle in Santa Ana on Greenville Street and Warner Avenue.
"My boyfriend was the first one to get out of the car, go over to her and we were just basically there and she was pleading for help," said Patty Quezada, who witnessed the accident.
The driver who struck Pham had driven away.
Pham was transported to the pediatric intensive care unit at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where she was slowly improving. Her father, Peter Pham, has been at her side.
"If they have a kid like me, who do they feel? Like me, I feel very bad for my daughter. I have to [take time] off from my work, and I have to take care of my daughter. I'm not sleeping," he said.
At the Pham household, the baby of the family, Susan, coped by watching videos of her big sister.
Detectives working the case, as well as the teen's family, remained hopeful that the person responsible would surrender to police.
"If he wasn't at fault for the accident, then it's an accident. Technically, if she ran a red light and he had stuck around, he wouldn't be in any trouble, because it would have been her fault. But that's not the case here. Because he left, we don't have any witnesses," said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department.
