6 hurt in hit-and-run on 40th St.

Six people were injured yesterday afternoon when a driver plowed into a pedestrian and four cars along 40th Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets, police said. Police said a 48-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident and is being charged with drunk driving. Philadelphia Police Officer Larry Fadgen, who was stopped at the traffic light on 40th and Chestnut streets when the accident occured, said the driver, whose name he would not release, came out of Fidelity Bank on the corner, got into a white sedan and drove up onto the curb, hitting a female pedestrian. She was later transported to a hospital by paramedics. Fadgen said he followed the car down 40th Street toward Walnut Street as the driver ran into four other cars. He added that no one in the four cars was seriously injured, but one woman was visibly shaken and dazed when paramedics escorted her from her car to an emergency medical vehicle. According to eyewitnesses, the white sedan hit the woman's car at 40th and Sansom streets, spinning it 180 degrees before it came to a rest. One eyewitness, who did not give his name, said that it appeared the driver did not brake at all as he proceeded down 40th Street, and was only stopped when he ran into a red Ford Thunderbird at Walnut Street. "If he could have gotten past that car, he would have," the man said. "It looked like he was trying to drive [but] his brakes were broken." Another witness, WXPN employee Ellie Hidalgo, said she was making a phone call at a pay phone at 40th and Chestnut streets when she heard people start to scream. She said the white car was going fast and its wheels were screeching as it drove. Scores of people lined the streets as dozens of police officers milled about the scene. Police blocked off Chestnut Street for over an hour, forcing huge snarls in rush-hour traffic. Three paramedic units responded to the incident. The driver of the white sedan, whom police handcuffed, appeared to be unable to keep his balance as police transported him to a police van. University Police officials said that they did not know if anyone injured in the incident was affiliated with the University.

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