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.
We are in Salem tonight.
— Malini Basu (@MaliniBasu_) January 19, 2021
It’s a miracle this 17y/o skateboarder survived.
But the driver took off. Help @SalemMAPolice and the girl’s mother solve this crime. Mom has been going door to door trying to find the driver.
@boston25 pic.twitter.com/GVXvbQRqZH
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.
Salem: I spoke to a heartbroken mom today, whose daughter was hit by a car while she was skateboarding.
— Malini Basu (@MaliniBasu_) January 19, 2021
Her daughter was scared to tell her mom. The next morning the 17y/o finished her zoom class, & was taken to the hospital b/c she was in pain.
The driver took off @boston25 pic.twitter.com/jQTesmmtPh
“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.
Cox Media Group