ST. LOUIS — Police released a security camera video Monday showing a June 2020 hit-and-run that critically injured two women who were crossing the intersection at Manchester and Newstead when a white SUV took a turn, hit them, and left the scene.
"It kind of shakes me a little bit to know that happened in the exact same area as mine did," Destiny Frey said of the crash that happened five months and one block from her own hit-and-run.
Frey was hit by an unidentified driver while out with friends on Nov. 14. The force of the accident threw her body 20 to 25 feet down the road, severing her aortic valve and injuring the lower half of her body.
"I've been told multiple times that my age and my proximity to the hospital are what saved my life," she said.
Police initially released a set of photos, asking for more information in Frey's case. They said the men involved were driving a tan or silver 4 door sedan with the driver's-side headlight out.
"We pull video almost on a daily basis," Jim Whyte said.
Whyte runs the Central West End Neighborhood Security Initiative which maintains nearly 70 video cameras in the Grove. Their cameras caught both hit-and-runs, video then used by police.
"The police department resources are very challenged right now, and so we look at ourselves as kind of a resource for them," he said of the organization's proactive approach.
Whyte says their staff scans police report, NextDoor posts and other social media looking for issues that might have shown up on their cameras. If they find something, they pass it along to the police. The SLMPD Real-Time Crime Center can also pull from their cameras.
While police have not made an arrest in Frey's case, she focuses on what she can control, saying the entire incident "has been a lot to process."
She spent her 25th birthday in the hospital, but — in the months since — she's taken big steps, literally, towards recovery, and she hopes to one day have a career in healthcare.
"To just be able to help future patients, I think that would be the most rewarding job ever," Frey said.
If you have information on either hit-and-run, call 866-371-TIPS (8477).
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