A wrong-way driver traveling through Lancaster's Penn Square early this morning, ended up crashing her vehicle near McCaskey High School and seriously injuring her passenger, police said.
The driver, Nawal L. Sackowitz, 30, of the 1900 block of Oregon Pike, is facing multiple offenses, police said this morning, including drunken driving, fleeing police, aggravated assault while driving under the influence of intoxicants and numerous traffic violations.
The passenger, Hector M. Morales, 37, of the first block of North Ann Street, was thrown from the vehicle and trapped beneath the wreckage, police said. He was taken to Lancaster General Hospital where he was listed in fair condition.
City police said the incident began shortly after 2 this morning, when Officers Phil Bernot and Jessica Higgins saw a gold Jeep traveling southbound in the first block of North Queen Street.
As the Jeep traveled the wrong way through downtown Lancaster, the officers followed, trying to get her to stop as she drove around the monument in Penn Square and turned left onto East King Street.
Now traveling the correct direction, city police officers followed the Jeep, still trying to get the vehicle to pull over.
Instead, police said, the Jeep accelerated, failing to stop for red traffic lights as her speed reached close to 100 mph.
The officers discontinued the pursuit, but minutes later heard a county emergency dispatcher reporting an accident in the 500 block of North Franklin Street.
Police arrived to find Sackowitz unhurt, but her male passenger seriously injured and trapped in the wreckage. She was arrested and taken into custody.
Staff writer Janet Kelley can be reached at jkelley@LNPnews.com or 481-6026.
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