In an emailed statement from the ELPD Lieutenant Adrian Ojerio disclosed that officers responded to a three car accident. A vehicle in the 300 block of E. Grand River Ave. struck a pedestrian near a bench, causing minor injuries. 

Ojerio said, “The alleged at-fault driver fled the scene on foot, but multiple community members called 911, which assisted the police in apprehending that person.” 

The accident remains under investigation.

Eyewitness Hannah Kozak said she saw the truck strike a pedestrian while she was walking in front of the shop. The pedestrian's left foot appeared to be bleeding. She was then loaded onto an ambulance.

Amanda Bond and recent MSU graduate Emma Fabiano walked down Grand River Ave. Thursday afternoon to get lunch at Raising Cane’s when they saw a driver get out of their truck while it was still moving. They questioned whether the brakes were working, until the driver got back into the car bringing it to a stop. Afterwards, the truck ran into a black Jeep before cranking the wheel to the right and accelerating. 

As the driver accelerated, they hit a pedestrian that was standing behind a bench, running over both the bench and the person, leaving the pedestrian pinned under it. 

Both Bond and Fabiano rushed to the pedestrian as she was yelling for help. 

Bond recalls the driver getting out of the car to ask if the pedestrian was okay, hit her vape and then went into the book store. After stepping back outside for a brief moment, the driver went back into the book store where she exited the back, fleeing the scene.  

“She looked out of it,” Bond said. “She just didn't really seem to understand the consequences of what just happened. I was scared that she was a dangerous person. I didn't really know what to make of it.”

After the suspect fled the scene, crowds of students and people gathered around the scene taking photos and videos. 

“I don't know if they understood the severity, because we had just gotten a girl out from under the truck,” Fabiano said.  “They were taking videos as people do when something like that happens, but it was kind of uncomfortable seeing people do that.”

Bookshop employee Casey Holland said she heard the sound of a car being rear-ended outside, followed by screaming. 

Holland said the driver then got out of her car, entered the store and asked to call 911. After the call failed to go through, she went outside again, then re-entered the store before she "ran out our back door."

The Curious Book Shop, located at 307 E. Grand River Ave., has been a part of the East Lansing community for over 50 years. The shop is a three-story space that is filled with books.