Car jumps curb, slams into woman in Jersey City; witnesses say victim was 'run down'

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A woman is in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle that jumped a curb in Jersey City, an incident that witnesses at the scene described as intentional.

It happened Monday evening at Union Street near MLK Drive in the city's Bergen Lafayette neighborhood, with the impact so severe that the car knocked over a light post after slamming into a wall.

Witnesses say the driver and the victim had been involved in an altercation moments before.

"They were physically fighting," bystander Tyrone Bey said. "They were fighting in the car. The girl jumped back into the driver's seat and just mowed her down...The girl hit the gas right there on the corner, she hit the pole, and the car ran her over."

To those watching, the intention was clear.

"Just ran her down," the victim's uncle, James Bates, said. "Deliberate, deliberate. The car jumped while she was under it, drove it from there to there...She just hit the gas as hard as she could and ran her down."

As police towed the car away Monday night, the victim was in surgery with two broken legs and internal injuries.

"My reaction was why?" the victim's aunt, Joanna Umeh, said. "That was my reaction, like why? Why did they need to run her over with a vehicle? Why would you get inside a car when you had time to think about it? Why would you do that? That was premeditated."

The courts may well decide that issue.

"Every action has a consequence, so I think she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Umeh said.

The driver was also hospitalized and is listed in stable condition.

"I can't get it out of my head," Bates said. "I can't get it out of my head."

The investigation is ongoing.