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Salem skateboarder hit by a hit-and-run driver, caught on surveillance camera

SALEM, Mass. — It’s a miracle the teenager survived.

“She’s in the hospital, and I couldn’t see her,” said Joy Braner, the mother of the teen who was hit.

Boston 25 News spoke with Joy Braner, as she tearfully talked about her 17-year-old daughter, Venice Araya.

Araya’s passion is skateboarding, and it’s that very sport that landed her in the hospital. In the video, you can see her skateboarding down Ord Street in Salem. The driver of the car hits her.

The teen managed to get up, and everyone around her thought the driver was going to stop, but that wasn’t the case.

“It’s a crime, you hit the person, I just want justice for my daughter,” said Braner.

“I thought it was an accident, a car with another car,” said Marcel Pinto, the owner of Marcelo and son’s auto repair shop.

The hit-and-run happened in front of Marcelo Pinto’s auto repair shop last Tuesday night.

Pinto believes it was an orange or red Mitsubishi Eclipse that hit the teen, and he even asked the driver what happened.

“She told me she got hit by the skateboard. That’s why I didn’t stop the car or get the plates number,” said Pinto.

Braner said her daughter was so scared, she went home without saying a word to her parents, and the next morning, she even continued on with her online classes.

“But after the class, she was calling me and crying,” said Braner.

“She tried not to tell me...because she knows no skating on the street, go home before dark. I just want my daughter home,” said Braner.

As we stood there talking to mom, her hands were shaking because she was hurt and angry. She just wants to know who did this to her daughter. The teen remains in the hospital, but is expected to be ok. The hardest part for her mother is being unable to see her daughter in the hospital because of COVID-19 restrictions.

If you have any information about the driver of the red or orange Mitsubishi Eclipse, please call Salem Police.