Local News

911 calls: Man who fled the scene of fatal Western Boulevard crash was driving white Nissan van

Early Wednesday morning, our beloved co-worker Erin Simanskis passed away from injuries she received after being hit by a van on Western Boulevard Friday night.

Posted Updated

By
Amanda Lamb
, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — Early Wednesday morning WRAL employee Erin Simanskis passed away from injuries she received after being hit by a van on Western Boulevard Friday night.

Simanskis was driving home from work during snow and icy weather on Friday night when someone from behind hit her. While outside of her car exchanging information with the driver who hit her, someone driving a white van hit Simanskis and fled from the scene.

The van that hit Simanskis was not stolen, but officials have still been unable to arrest the driver who ran away from the scene that night. Sources close to the case told WRAL News that police are working around the clock on the hit-and-run investigation.

Police did release 911 calls from the scene of the accident that shed new light on the moments right after the crash.

A man in his garage on Western Boulevard said he heard a crash and ran into his yard and saw people injured in the road where three vehicles had crashed, including a white van. He called 911.

"Yes, it's a white Nissan NV1500 van parked in the middle with its hazard on," the man told the 911 operator.

Rear view of 2012 Nissan NV1500
Date	19 January 2012
Author	Mr.choppers
(Credit: Wikimedia)

The driver of the van ran away from the crash after hitting Simanskis, WRAL's assignment editor and research assistant for 5 On Your Side.

Gabby Espinoza translates for her mother who was in the kitchen cooking and looking out the window the night of the crash.

"She just heard like a big, loud bang, like a car crash she assumed," Espinoza said of her mother. "She got worried, so she put on her jacket to go outside to see."

Espinoza said her mother saw someone being taken away from the scene on a stretcher. She was hoping nothing bad had happened on Friday night and was devastated to learn the news of Simanskis' passing.

WRAL News did visit the home of the man who was involved in the earlier fender bender. He was also hit by the white van and was treated at WakeMed for his injuries.

The man involved in the crash is now home recovering and a woman at his home told us he was not available to speak about what happened.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of the driver, please call Raleigh Police Department's non-emergency line at 919-831-6311.

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