Las Cruces Police continue to investigate Monday afternoon’s hit-and-run crash on Picacho Avenue that injured two teenage girls who were walking across the roadway.
The twin 16-year-old girls were in a designated crosswalk when they were struck by a white Ford pickup traveling west in the outside lane. One of the girls was transported to Memorial Medical Center and was released from the hospital Tuesday.
Her twin sister was airlifted to University Medical Center of El Paso where she remains in critical condition.
The crash occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, on Picacho Avenue just west of Melendres Street.
Witnesses told police the girls were walking north, across Picacho Avenue, in the crosswalk near Lions Park. Most vehicles stopped for the girls but a white Ford pickup traveling westbound in the outside lane failed to yield for the teens.
Traffic investigators learned the 81-year-old driver of the white Ford pickup failed to immediately stop after his vehicle struck the girls. He allegedly drove a couple hundred feet after striking the girls before briefly stopping. Witnesses told police the driver walked back to where the girls lay on the ground before returning to his pickup and driving away.
Just moments after the crash was reported, Las Cruces Police located the pickup a few blocks away and conducted a traffic stop. Charges against the driver of the pickup are pending the outcome of the investigation.