Update, 4:40 p.m. Berkeleyside has spoken with the mother of the girl who was hit. The cyclist is a freshman at Berkeley High and plays French horn in the honors band. The girl has a dislocated kneecap, and was discharged from the hospital Friday afternoon. She still hopes to play in the Band and Orchestra (BAO) winter concert Friday at 7 p.m., her mother said. The show is free and open to everyone. It takes place in the Berkeley Community Theater at BHS, 1930 Allston Way.
Earlier in the day, her fellow band members took up a collection and sent the girl flowers in the hospital. They also sent a group selfie to wish the girl well. Band and Orchestra Director Karen Wells said she was impressed the young woman still hopes to play in the Friday night concert: “She’s pretty determined,” Wells said of the young woman.
Scroll down below the photographs for details of the crash.
Original story, 1:35 p.m. A girl on her bike was struck by a hit-and-run driver Thursday night on Telegraph Avenue, according to police and community reports.
The crash happened at about 7 p.m. at Telegraph Avenue and Parker Street, said Lt. Andrew Rateaver of the Berkeley Police Department.
Rateaver said police and firefighters responded to the scene after a collision was reported there.
“The vehicle, described as a black SUV, apparently fled the scene after colliding with a bicyclist,” he said Friday. No description of the driver was immediately available.
The bicyclist was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, Rateaver said. The degree of injuries, and current condition, were unknown Friday. It was also unknown whether alcohol could have been a factor in the crash. Rateaver said no further details were available Friday.
Berkeleyside also reviewed scanner traffic during the police response. The cyclist was identified as a girl who was taken to Children’s Hospital in Oakland for treatment. Community members on the scene said this information was consistent with what they saw and heard there.
According to unconfirmed scanner traffic, the girl’s father rode with her in the ambulance, and she asked authorities to be sure to secure her musical instrument, which she’d had with her at the time of the crash.
Berkeleyside reader A.D. Mobley captured video of the aftermath of the crash. It appears below.
