By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
New Year celebrations ended a little early for a Great Bend family dealing with a hit-and-run accident in front of their home. At approximately 11:05 p.m. on New Year's Eve, a red Ford Fiesta parked in front of a home in the 2500 block of 17th Street was struck by an unknown vehicle. Nakita Adame, owner of the Fiesta, has been on a mission to find information since.
"It was definitely not on our list of things to do or the way to spend our last couple of days off at home with the kids," she said. "They kind of got the brunt end of the deal being stuck in the car driving around with us. We've driven around looking around for any cars that are parked that might be wrecked."
Adame said speeding cars are always an issue in that stretch of 17th Street. Traffic is often reduced to one car at a time since cars are parked on both sides of the street. Nakita heard the speeding car but did not realize the Fiesta had been struck.
"My husband heard the crash," she said. "To me, it didn't register as a 'I need to go check a vehicle' kind of a noise, but he happened to peek out the window just to see and had seen a car right after that turning right onto Washington. He said it looked like they were dragging something.
An early lead was promising. A neighbor had used the DoorDash food delivery service. The Adames found white paint transfer on their vehicle, and the DoorDash employee was driving a white Toyota Prius. The Adames went to businesses along Main Street to try and track the driver's movements. Wednesday afternoon, officers with the Great Bend Police Department were able to confirm the Prius was not involved in the crash.
"We do feel really bad that we put him out there like that but we tried to make contact with him before we did," Adame said. "We're thankful he was able to reach out to us and clear things up so quickly."
With that driver cleared, a neighbor rechecked her cameras and found more video around the time of the accident that features a slightly darker vehicle.
"It is a smaller car," Adame said. "It's not a truck or an SUV. It's definitely a smaller car. When you compare the videos, the Prius was, you can tell, a very bright, light color. The car flying by, when you pause it put it in slow motion, it appears to be a darker-colored car. We don't even know that."
The suspect vehicle was headed westbound on 17th Street, eventually turning north onto Washington. The Adames are hopeful to find a car that likely has front-end, driver's-side damage and red paint transfer. No significant pieces of the the hit-and-run vehicle were left behind though the impact pushed back the Fiesta approximately 10 feet.
The Fiesta belonged to Adame's mother-in-law, but had recently become a primary source of transportation for the family. Because insurance had not been switched from liability, the Adame's are hopeful to find the driver so the accident can be handled properly. Until then, Adame has been grateful for neighbors and community members who have helped.
"It was super cool, all the help from all the neighbors who have been gracious enough to check their cameras multiple times and make sure there's nothing they can see," she said. "It's been really nice to see that people care and they want to help."
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run can contact the Great Bend Police Department at (620) 793-4120.