Hit-and-run leaves its mark

NORWICH, Conn. (WTNH) -- 36-year-old Amalia Rivera is accused of a hit-and-run on Hamilton Ave which sent two people to the hospital and left behind a damaged car and disturbing memories.

"I did see the car. It was rammed in the back when I got home that night. I was like wow somebody got hit hard," Suzanne Tanguay, of Norwich, said.

The 21-year-old male and his 20-year-old girlfriend had just gotten out of their parked car when they were hit. He was knocked into the street and she was pinned behind the car.

When News 8 said it must have been awful to see them get hurt like that, witness Jayme Mateo said, "Yeah it's undescribable, it's undescribable."

Jayme Mateo saw it all. She tried to stop the car that hit her neighbors but she said it pulled away and even stopped at a light up ahead. Her description was spot on and a few hours later an observant officer spotted the 1999 black Chrysler damage and all in a driveway.

"What she did, leaving, I have nothing nice to say to somebody like that except need a lot of help," Mateo said.

There aren't skid marks on the street but witnesses tell News 8 that the suspect's car hit the victim's car and pushed it twenty feet down the road with the victim stuck in between them.

News 8 learned the 21-year-old lost both of her legs from the knee down, but is already talking about when she can get back to work. It breaks Jayme Mateo's heart.

"She's phenomenal and she has phenomenal spirit. And he's just as...you can't get people like that anymore," Mateo said.

When News 8 asked Suzanne Tanguay if people go faster than 40, Tanguay said, "Yes definitely."

Tanguay said she lost three dogs to speeding cars, and two of them were hit and run.