A Vancouver woman is pleading with the public to help find the driver in a hit-and-run crash that critically injured her son early Monday morning.
Just before 2 a.m. Monday, a passing motorist called 911 to alert deputies to a crash in the 4100 block of Northeast 54th Avenue, in the Truman neighborhood, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
When they arrived, they found Paul P. Adams, 34, of Vancouver severely injured. He was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies learned that Adams had been walking along the shoulder of 54th Avenue and was struck by a southbound vehicle that fled the scene. Adams didn’t have any identification on him, so they didn’t identify him and get in touch with his mother, 51-year-old Nancy Peterson, until Tuesday morning.
She rushed to the hospital, where she learned that her son had a broken back, two broken legs and a broken left elbow. He also had to have staples in his brain, Peterson said.
Doctors told Peterson that if Adams lives, he likely won’t walk again because of brain damage. They also may have to amputate one of his legs, she said.
“I just want my son to live,” Peterson said. “I don’t know how someone can hit someone and just leave them.”
She said her son is 350 pounds — so she knows that whoever hit him knew that they hit him.
“They slammed on the brakes, and he went flying out into the grass by a fence … and they left him there,” she said through tears. “I don’t know how long he was there.”
Peterson is taking care of Adams’ 10-year-old son and doesn’t know how she’s going to tell him what happened to his dad. She pleaded with the public to go to the police if they know anything.
“This person needs to be caught,” she said.
Investigators said debris at the scene led them to believe the suspect vehicle is a Nissan sedan. The car would have significant damage to the passenger-side grill and headlamp, as well as damage to the vehicle’s hood, the sheriff’s office said.
Because of Adams’ injuries, detectives have not yet been able to interview him. He remained unconscious Tuesday afternoon.
The case is under investigation by Deputy Todd Young, a detective in the agency’s traffic unit. Anyone with information about the crash, including the identity of the driver, is asked to contact Young at todd.young@clark.wa.gov.
