Copper Thieves Blamed After Woman Hit by Car

Woman in critical condition after she's struck by car on dark Miami street

A woman is fighting for her life after she was struck by a car on a dark Miami street and officials say copper wire thieves may be to blame.

The incident happened around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Northwest 7th Avenue and 59th Street when the woman was struck by a Toyota Corolla as she was crossing the street, Miami Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Ignatius Carroll said.

"The impact sent her flying into the windshield," Carrol said. The woman, later identified by police as 52-year-old Thelma Morrow, was taken to Ryder Trauma Center where she was in critical condition.

Carroll said 30 blocks in the area are without street lights after a rash of copper thefts in the past few days.

"She didn't see the car because of the darkness," said Carroll, adding that it was raining hard at the time of the crash. "There was no way the driver of this car would have even known she was coming through."

Carroll said he didn't know how long the lights had been out but that the outages stretched from about 36th Street to 79th Street and were creating a danger for motorists and pedestrians.

"We all feel that if the street lights were on, they probably would have seen this woman, she probably would have seen the cars coming and she probably wouldn't be in the hospital right now fighting for her life," he said.

Late last month, copper wire thieves were blamed for taking 175,000 feet of wiring from lights on I-95.

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