The victim of a hit-and-run crash in Richmond on Monday, Dec. 23, has launched a GoFundMe page to help her get back on her feet.
Nickole McDaniels, 44, says she’d just gotten off work when a speeding driver struck her car in Richmond. The incident, she said, left her with multiple broken bones, temporarily out of work, and unable to pay her rent and bills.
The crash occurred at about 3 a.m. at the intersection at Rheem Avenue and 23rd Street, according to Richmond police Sgt. Enrik Melgoza. The suspect in the crash, identified as Calixto Carillo-Garcia, was arrested the following day, on Dec. 24, on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and failing to yield.
Moments before the crash, Carillo-Garcia had fled a police traffic stop at the McDonald’s at 23rd and Macdonald Ave., Melgoza said. The driver of a Dodge that had been parked in the drive-thru of the fast food eatery was reported to have been drinking and acting aggressively. The suspect evaded the traffic stop and ran a red light at 23rd and Nevin, Melogoza said. Officers decided to terminate the pursuit for public safety reasons, he added.
The suspect drove just over mile before crashing into McDaniels’ Audi A5. On her GoFundMe page, McDaniels said her car was pinned against a pole and that emergency responders had to cut the door of car to get her out. She said she suffered three broken ribs, a fractured lumbar, sprained knee and fractured chest bone from the crash.
McDaniels told KTVU (Ch.2), which first broke this story, that the injuries will likely keep her out of work for six weeks, adding that she lacks health insurance. She said the accident also kept her from visiting her daughter, who currently lives with her mother in Missouri, on Christmas Eve.
For more details on McDaniels’ situation, read KTVU’s full report here.
“I’m grateful to have survived this tragedy and in the aftermath of it I am praying for support while trying to heal and put my life back together,” McDaniels states on the GoFundMe account.
Those wanting to help her can contribute here.
Meanwhile, Carrillo-Garcia remains in custody and is set for a preliminary court hearing on charges related to the case on Thursday, Melgoza said.
