Two hit by car at block party

A woman and a visiting Emory University student were both hit by an unidentified vehicle Saturday night during the block party on 40th and Samson streets, according to witnesses at the party. "There was a huge crowd of people. It was a party as big as Spring Fling," College senior Scott Shapiro, a witness of the accident, said last night. "A car came into the crowd. It was accelerating and then stopping. It hit a woman and then backed out." Josh Berwitz, the visting sophomore from Emory University, was hit while the car was driving in reverse. "I was standing in the middle of the road, away from the block party, and this car suddenly reversed," Berwitz said. "A few people jumped out of the way. I jumped, but the car nipped my left leg." He said that he did not go to the hospital because he did not think he was seriously injured. "My ankle's sore, though," Berwitz said. "It was sort of mangled and twisted." Berwitz added that he could not remember what the car looked like, or if it had a license plate number. Berwitz said that he did not talk with police. Another witness of the hit-and-run, Wharton sophomore Karen Klinger, said, "I couldn't figure out what the car was doing. I saw it come down Samson [Street]. People were drunk and started crowding around the car. The next thing I knew, the guy gunned the accelerator and flew out of there." Klinger added that she thought the car had tinted windows. "You couldn't tell how many people were in the car," she added. According to Shapiro, the woman who was initally hit by the car, was assisted to the side by onlookers. He also added that the woman was eventually helped by police called to the scene. University Police answered the call around 12:44 a.m. Sunday, but neither the injured nor the vehicle were present when they arrived, according to Lieutenant Susan Holmes. The 18th District Philadelphia Police Department may have assisted the woman, but they could not be reached for confirmation. This is not the first disturbance in the 40th and Sansom streets area. A year and a half ago, students flipped over a parked car during a similar block party. No one was injured.

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