article

A couple is searching for answers Saturday after a pregnant woman was hit by a vehicle while crossing Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, and left lying along the roadway as the driver took off.

Family members say the woman, Tamara, and her unborn baby are doing okay after being hit and left lying in the street. Tamara is in a lot of pain, and has already gone through surgery, but they survived. Now, they want the public's help in trying to find out who hit her along Snelling and Eleanor avenues.

Frisco Rice and his girlfriend Tamara have been spending months planning for their first baby due in May.

"Then this happens," explained Rice. "It’s like, 'Man what is our plans?' All our plans changed."

Things were altered in an instant after Tamara was hit by a vehicle around 10 p.m. Friday.


"I just come running up and there’s Tamara just laying in the street," said Rice.

She was trying to get back to their apartment on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul and the driver who hit her didn’t stick around.

"[It makes me] angry, kind of sickening you hit a pregnant person and didn’t stop or nothing," Rice said. "It’s pretty insane to me."

Tamara was crossing the street after parking on Eleanor Avenue. Frisco tells us she had just about made it to the curb, when the vehicle came crashing into her, breaking her leg and causing serious facial injuries that may eventually require surgery.

"It’s hard to look at her sometimes," he said. "I have to look away because I just want to cry."

But Rice believes some higher power was watching out for both Tamara and their baby.

"When we got to the hospital, they said everything was looking good," Rice adds. "There was a heartbeat and the baby was moving and I thought, thank God."

Now, he is hoping some Good Samaritans may have seen something that could help solve this case.

"She’s going to definitely fight through this and get better."

St. Paul police are investigating this hit and run. The only clue left behind at the scene was a piece of the bumper that is silver.

If you were in this area of Snelling near Highland Park Friday night around 10 p.m. and saw something, call St. Paul police.

An online fundraiser has also been set up to help Tamara as she recovers.

