INDIANAPOLIS — Homeowners on the near east side are tired of people speeding through their neighborhood. This week an accident almost killed a woman in an electric wheelchair.
“We heard a car speeding, and we heard a big crash. I thought that he hit a car,” said Katelyne Sanchez who witnessed the accident from her porch. “My husband said, ‘Oh my God, he just hit that lady! He just hit that lady!’”
The incident happened Tuesday in the 1300 block of Dearborn Street. Tanya Lance was riding on her electric wheelchair when she was struck by the driver of a silver car. Neighbors say she was thrown from the chair, and her body became lodged under a nearby pickup truck.
“My first reaction was just to jump up and make sure that she was okay,” said Sanchez, “She was underneath my neighbor’s truck. She was lodged underneath I think his muffler piece. Everyone was trying to move the truck, and I was like, ‘Let’s not just yet.’ Her head was gushing blood. It was just really intense.”
Surveillance footage from Sanchez’s Ring camera caught the moments after the collision. She could be seen running to her aid, with neighbors saying Sanchez held Lance’s hand until medical crews arrived.
The driver that hit Lance slowed down momentarily after the crash, only to flee from the scene. So far no arrests have been made.
“I really hope that they turn themselves in. I mean, I couldn’t live comfortable going on with my life knowing I almost killed someone,” added Sanchez.
“Tanya is one of a kind, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything,” said Lance’s friend and neighbor Dori Morton. “We have talked to IMPD and the city about speed bumps, about hawk eye lights. We have a school at either end, and we have parks.”
Morton has been waiting to see Lance in the hospital since the accident.
“She is at Methodist in the Neurocritical Care in the ICU,” said Morton. “According to [someone who lives with Lance], she was having surgery either yesterday or today on her spine.”
Tanya’s friends and neighbors are furious. They see this type of speeding daily. Even during our interview with Sanchez, a brown SUV drove by so fast that it halted the discussion.
“It really sucks because sometimes my kids will ride their bicycles on that sidewalk, and I’m mortified. I can’t even ride around the neighborhood with my kids,” said Sanchez.
“We hear crashes more often than you would want, and people are speeding all the time,” added Morton.
If you recognize the car, or know the driver of the vehicle in the video at the top of this story, please contact the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
