‘The person knows they hit me’: Chicago newspaper columnist suffers broken hip after Pilsen hit-and-run

CHICAGO — At the intersection of Ashland and 18th Street in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood, Ismael Perez says he was crossing the street southbound with eight seconds left on the monitor when a car struck him.

Perez, an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, continues to recover from hip surgery almost a week after the incident.

“The person knows they hit me,” Perez said. “They probably assumed they broke my bones and they know they left me on the ground.”

Perez, 32, was struck by the unidentified vehicle Tuesday evening, just a block away from his home. Perez said the car hit him while in the middle of the crosswalk on 18th Street moments after he left a nearby store.

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“I thought it was safe to cross,” Perez said. “I had seen a gray car still at the stoplight and by the time I was in the middle of the street and I turned, the car was already about to hit me. And then it was a blur of what happened.”

According to Perez, the northbound vehicle on Ashland made a left on 18th Street.

“I just remember the hit, being in the air for a bit and then landing on the floor,” he said. “And the next thing, I just remember people saying that the driver was already gone.”

Perez added that he dragged himself to the sidewalk “because the light had already turned green and more cars were coming.” Shortly after that, first responders arrived at the scene.

“They said I had a fractured femur at the top of the hip, and they did say that surgery was not something I would have at 32 years old,” Perez said. “But they had to do it to get my hip back to working.”

Police have not captured the hit-and-run driver.

“I feel there should be intersection cameras [at 18th and Ashland],” Perez said. “I feel there’s less hope of finding the driver because there are no cameras here.”

For now, Perez is taking things one step at a time.

“The doctors did their part, and I just hope the police also find this person because I wouldn’t feel safe with someone who feels it’s OK to just drive off after this,” Perez said.

Anyone with additional information may leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com .

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