INDIANAPOLIS — A woman has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash that critically injured a motorcyclist on Indianapolis' southwest side in September.
According to online court records, Sauja Wilford was charged Oct. 2 with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury and knowingly or intentionally operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a license.
A warrant for Wilford's arrest was active as of Oct. 3, according to online court records.
The crash was reported around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 1 near the intersection of South Lynhurst Drive and West Southern Avenue.
According to court documents, a responding officer located an unconscious motorcyclist with a head injury, who was taken to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition. The officer was told by a witness that the motorcyclist had been in a crash with a white SUV that fled the scene.
A detective determined the SUV was driving east on Southern Avenue through the intersection when it suddenly made a wide U-turn, driving into the path of the motorcycle, which crashed into the side of the car.
Court documents state that an IMPD camera system at the intersection led detectives to the suspect car, a white Jeep with a missing front bumper and plastic covering the rear passenger side window.
License plate reader pictures of the car from Aug. 31 showed no damage to the Jeep's passenger side, while images from Sept. 1 around 8 a.m. showed heavy damage, according to the documents.
Detectives tracked that car, registered to Wilford, to a home near North Dearborn and East Michigan streets on Indianapolis' near east side.
There, Wilford allegedly told them she had picked up her children from a hotel and was driving the Jeep when, since she had been drinking, she decided to turn around to return to the hotel. Wilford said as she was turning around, her car was hit by something, but she wasn't sure what it was since her rear passenger window was covered.
"She said she did not call the police and saw the news story of the crash the next day," the detective wrote in court documents.
Phone records showed Wilford's phone was near the crash scene shortly after the incident.
According to court documents, family of the motorcyclist told a detective he had suffered a "debilitating" brain injury, a broken hip, broken pelvis and broken ribs, and would require long-term care.
