Police have released this surveillance photo of the car that is believed to have struck and killed Beverly Akerson, 43, at Lawrence Avenue and Sheridan Road. (Credit: Chicago Police)
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Updated 09/26/11 – 4:05 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Police are looking for the public’s help in finding a hit and run driver responsible for the death of a 43-year old woman in the Uptown neighborhood.
As WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports, police have released surveillance photos of the car that plowed into a woman crossing busy Sheridan Road early Saturday. Police said the driver reportedly backed up and struck the woman again before fleeing the scene.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports
The pedestrian, Beverly Akerson, 43, died eight hours later.
Two witnesses saw the car speed down westbound Lawrence Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, police said.
When the woman was hit by the car, she landed motionless on the ground, Town Hall District police Lt. Jeffrey Hoffmann said. Witnesses told police after hitting the woman, the driver of the car reversed and hit her again while she was laying in the street.
“It was cold,” Hoffmann said of the driver’s actions.
Akerson was pronounced dead at 9:58 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the medical examiner’s office.
No one saw the license plate on the car, which was possibly a Buick. The car is described as a 4-door light-colored sedan. It was last seen heading south on Sheridan. Police say it’s possible the vehicle has damage to its front end.
According to police, at this time there is no indication that the driver of the car knew the woman.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the police Major Accident Investigation Unit at (312) 745-4521.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
