HPD: Woman intentionally run over four times in SE Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman is "in grave condition" police say, after being run over four times at the apartment complex where she lived in southeast Houston on Long Drive.

The man who investigators say hit her, is still out there, but investigators have located his truck and are now processing it for evidence.

Houston police identified the suspect as San Juanita Herrera, who is in her late 30s.

Pshanna Crane saw the whole thing happen.

"He was trying to kill her. That's what it looked like," she said.

Crane was sitting on her front step around 11pm, when she says she saw a barefooted woman cross the parking lot. A dark gray pickup was right behind her. Then, she says, the truck sped up and hit the woman.

"It was not an accident."

Police say he hit her four times. Crane describes how he crossed from one end of the parking lot to the other, gaining speed with each turn.

"He came all the way down here, turned around, went back and ran over her again," she said.

"Before he proceeded to run over her the fourth time, he checked to see where she was in front of his car before he ran her over," said Alean Driver, another neighbor.

Finally satisfied, the driver took off. Crane and her brother ran after his truck to get a look at the plate number. Alean Driver went to help the woman.

"You see the tire trails on her back, you see her skin gone... It was pitiful," Driver said.

At that moment, Driver says the woman told her something that shocked her: that the man in the driver's seat was her former boss.

"I never seen such a thing," Driver said.

Neighbors say they never heard a fighting before the hit and run. Investigators are trying to figure out why the man ran over the woman.

Monday morning, police spent hours inside the woman's apartment-about 100 yards from where she was hit-looking for clues. They took pictures of the car parked out front-all four tires flattened.

The neighbors are disturbed not only by what they saw, but because this man is still out there.

"I thank God I was there, but if I had a choice, I wouldn't have been there," Driver said.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 50 to 60 years of age. He was seen in a gray 2000 Nissan Frontier pickup truck with a camper.

Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

We're following this story on Eyewitness News. Watch for updates on air, online and on our mobile news app.

Keep checking back on this page to get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To get alerts for breaking news, download the abc13 news app for iPhone or Android. You can also get breaking news alerts sent to you by email.