Petrillo & Goldberg Law Blog

Hit-and-run driver strikes and kills 16-year-old student

According to police, the driver of a car belonging to a woman’s niece hit and killed a teenager along a road in South Jersey on the night of March 29. The driver then fled the scene of the accident. The motorist, who is 40 years old, struck a 16-year-old student of Pennsauken High School. The accident occurred at approximately 11:25 p.m. in the lanes that were in the southern direction after the boy leaped over the barricade along U.S. Route at 49th Street in Pennsauken.

The force of the collision caused the victim to come to rest in the parking lot of a Burger King where he died. Pennsauken Police Sgt. Chris Sulzbach said the teenager had been visiting a friend on the opposite side of Route 130, and was on his way home when the car hit him.

Investigators discovered the vehicle in Camden after they received a phone call from the 19-year-old owner of the car with a report of the crash. Police used GPS tracking to determine the exact location to which the motorist fled. The driver, whose name is Susan Hyland, did not know that her niece had notified police. She attempted to leave through the rear of the home, but authorities caught up to her.

Police said that Hyland and others were conversing about what she should do with the damaged vehicle while they were inside the house. Police also said that the owner of the vehicle was not driving the car when the accident happened because she had driven from Harrisburg and was exhausted from the drive.

Hyland faces charges of leaving the scene of a crime, and driving with a suspended license.