A woman who drove away after she hit a pedestrian “knew what had happened”, an inquest heard.

Erika Prisacaru, 39 sustained multiple fractured ribs and a possible brain injury when she was hit by a car in The Grove in Dorchester on Wednesday, December 27.

She was taken to hospital but suffered cardiac arrest and died of her injuries.

A Bournemouth inquest heard the driver, Melissa Lewis, had eaten dinner at her partner’s flat in Brewery Square before getting in her car at around 7.30pm to drive to her home in Charminster.

Background

Miss Lewis said she could not “honestly remember” if she had consumed any alcohol that evening but if she had it was “one glass of wine with dinner”.

As she was driving down the Grove, Miss Lewis said she heard a “clunk” sounded like two wing mirrors hitting one another

She added she did not see a person on foot or on either side of the road but noticed her wing mirror was hanging down.

Miss Lewis pulled her car over and got out and said she saw someone lying on the ground.

She phoned her partner and told him “something had happened” before leaving the scene seven minutes later.

Miss Lewis said she did not contact the police as she was “in a state” because she could not understand what had happened.

That evening, Miss Lewis said she noticed small dents to the driver side of her car.

“They weren’t that visible and I had no idea what caused them,” she said.

Inspector Joe Pardey, who led the investigation said in his opinion the dents were “significant.”

Mr Pardey said CCTV footage showed Miss Lewis’ behaviour after the accident to be ‘erratic’ as she headed to her Charminster home before doubling back through Great Western Cross, driving an entire lap of the Brewery Square complex “as if to leave again” before reversing back down the road and parking up.

Miss Lewis was arrested on January 4. She pleaded guilty to failing to stop and failing to report the crash and was handed a 12 week sentence suspended for 18 months. 

Mr Pardey said there was “insufficient evidence to point the blame to either the pedestrian or the driver.”

A pathologist’s report said paramedics described Miss Prisacaru as ‘agitated’ and ‘combative’ in the ambulance which indicated a traumatic brain injury.

The report said she also suffered fractured ribs and an injury to her lower leg which indicated she was stood up at the time she was hit.

Miss Prisacaru was a single mother of a six-year-old son, Andrei.

In a statement Miss Prisacaru’s mother, Maria said Andrei had been “traumatised by his mother’s death.”

Coroner Brendan Allen said: “Miss Lewis did know. She knew what had happened during this accident. I don’t know if there is any other reason that she felt unable to speak to police. I commend the police for their diligence as without it it is highly likely Miss Prisacaru’s family would not have been able to discover how she came by her death.”

Mr Allen concluded Erika Prisacaru had died due to a road traffic collision.