TYLER, Texas — On Tuesday, Sandra Abrego, 43, passed away at a local hospital from her injuries after she was struck by a truck at a Tyler bus stop.
"It was really sad. He came straight through, went right to the Smoothie King about where you see that bag at and was thankfully able to jerk the wheel before hitting our store," Taylor Chappelle, a eye-witness of the crash, said. "People were all crowded around her we had a big crowd right in front of our Smoothie King door. There was people everywhere."
Officials responded to the French Quarter shopping center parking lot around 3:20 p.m., on reports of a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle.
"The victim was sitting at the bus stop and a vehicle that was traveling north left the roadway and did strike the victim," Tyler police spokesperson Andy Erbaugh said.
Police say that right now there’s a lot to investigate.
"There are a lot of possibilities of what could've happened and like I said there were several vehicles involved. When our accident investigators finally finish their investigation, they laser measure the scene, they look at skid marks on the roadways, they look at where they left the roadway and once that's all compiled and we have a good idea of what happened then the crimes against persons investigators will take whatever steps necessary to further on that investigation," Erbaugh said.
Regarding the placement of the bus stops in the City of Tyler, CBS19 received this statement from Tyler Transit.
“Tyler Transit bus stops and signs are built on the easement of roadways following regulation from the Federal Transit Administration, the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are no regulations in regard to the distance required from roadways.”
Tyler police is encouraging anyone who may have any information about the crash to contact the police department as they continue the investigation. But as of now, a GoFundMe is in place to help the family get Abrego to El Salvador to be buried.
"Someone lost their mom, their family member, a friend, a best friend. It’s sad, very sad," Chappelle said.
Abrego had moved to Tyler from Houston a couple of months ago for work, according to her daughter Blanca Diaz.
A vigil will be held for Abrego at a later date.