A suspect has been arrested in the hit-and-run crash that injured an 83-year-old pedestrian Tuesday, sending her to the regional trauma center, according to Berkeley police.
Just before 11:30 a.m., the woman was crossing Gilman Street at 10th Street in a crosswalk when a driver turning left onto Gilman hit her, knocking her to the ground, police said. The woman was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where she was treated for a serious leg or hip injury.
Witness descriptions of the vehicle were sent to police in the area.
The vehicle was spotted on University Avenue by a parking enforcement officer, BPD said, who followed the driver to the off-street parking lot of a hotel in the 1700 block of University Avenue.
By the time officers arrived, the driver had already left the vehicle but, after reviewing the hotel’s video surveillance, they found the driver hiding in one of the hotel rooms, where he was arrested.
BPD identified the driver as 58-year-old Avon Conaway Jr. of Berkeley.
The Alameda County district attorney’s office charged Conaway on Wednesday with vehicular hit-and-run causing injury, driving without a license and parole violation.
Note: This story was updated Jan. 6, 2022, to include the driver’s name and photograph.