Hit-and-runs on the rise in Austin, data show

June 25--A fatal hit-and-run crash that left one man dead in Southeast Austin on Thursday was Austin's fifth this year, continuing an increase in the number of hit-and-runs that goes back seven years, according to Texas Department of Public Safety data.

The man, identified by police on Saturday as Jason Aranda, was struck walking on East Oltorf Street at Huntwick Drive about 3 p.m. Thursday. Authorities say the driver, a woman they identified as 24-year-old Cierra Powell, hit him intentionally, prompting them to open a homicide investigation.

Others who have died this year in hit-and-runs are:

--Timothy Boykin, who was killed Feb. 9 when 21-year-old driver Olivia Gruwell struck him as he rode his moped on Red River Street in Central Austin, according to arrest documents. Authorities say Gruwell dragged the vehicle under her Jeep all the way to her home. She was charged with failure to stop and render aid and intoxication manslaughter.

--Josman James, who died Feb. 23 after a friend who was following in a Cadillac struck his vehicle on Decker Lane in North Austin, authorities said. The driver was identified in an arrest affidavit as Ashley Shelsea Rodriguez-Dominguez, who was later arrested.

--An unidentified man who was found dead on Interstate 35 on March 15. Investigators believe he was struck by a vehicle. The driver has not been found, police say.

--Robert Copeland, who was in a wheelchair on the I-35 frontage road, just south of Wonsley Drive, when he was struck and killed May 7. Rafael Padilla, identified as the driver in an arrest affidavit, was later arrested.

Austin police detective Adrian Duran urged people to drive defensively and to always anticipate the worst.

If you are hit while driving, he said, always take down the vehicle's license plate number. "I know the first instinct is to get on the phone with your mom or call police," Duran said. "But without a plate, there is nothing we can do."

Drivers face felony charges if they leave the scene of a crash when someone has been injured in any way. If you hit someone while driving, you should always stop, he said. "It's never as serious as you think."

A rise in hit-and-run crashes in the state and nationwide led insurance company AAA in April to put out an alert to drivers to be responsible and aware, particularly of pedestrians and cyclists, who are most likely to be seriously injured or killed.

"It is every driver's legal and moral responsibility to take necessary precautions to avoid hitting a pedestrian, bicyclist or another vehicle," AAA Director Jennifer Ryan said in a statement. "While no one likes being involved in a crash, leaving the scene will significantly increase the penalties for drivers whether they caused the crash or not."

Department of Public Safety data show 1,680 reported hit-and-run crashes in Austin in 2017. That's a 40 percent increase from 2010, when there were 1,201. In the same period, hit-and-run crashes involving pedestrians increased 76 percent, to 81 in 2017 from 46 in 2010.

AAA called 2016 the deadliest year on record for hit-and-runs, with 2,049 deaths nationwide. In Texas that year, at least one person died in 233 hit-and-run crashes. That's 33 percent more than in 2006, when there were 175 fatal hit-and-run crashes, the Texas data show.

Texas ranks eighth in the nation among states with the most hit-and-runs.

"People are dying," said Daniel Armbruster, a spokesman for AAA. "And we don't know how many people's lives could be saved if someone had stayed on the scene and rendered aid."

Armbruster said population growth is the main factor in the rising number of hit-and-run crashes.

Nearly 65 percent of people killed in hit-and-run crashes are cyclists or pedestrians, according to AAA. Drivers are more likely to leave the scene when they hit either of those, since there is less of a chance of other people witnessing the crash, Armbruster said.

The most serious hit-and-run crashes, resulting in injury or death, also tend to happen at night in more isolated areas, where drivers believe they can leave without getting caught, Armbruster said.

According to the data, fewer than 30 percent of fatal crashes happen between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. but more than half of all fatal hit-and-runs occur during that time.

"If it is dark and there are few cars on the road, they think they have a better opportunity to get away," Armbruster said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include the identities of two people who Austin police say were involved in a hit-and-run in Southeast Austin on Thursday.

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