New Orleans, Louisiana: Police Seek Blue Sedan in Fatal Elysian Fields Hit-and-Run

New Orleans police are asking the public to help identify the driver of a blue sedan who struck and killed a woman on Elysian Fields Avenue early Thursday, October 29, and drove away. Police released a photo of the suspect on Thursday and said detectives are gathering evidence to identify whoever was responsible.

Third District officers responded at about 2:15 a.m. to the 3100 block of Elysian Fields Avenue, where they found the woman injured. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The Orleans Parish Coroner's Office will release her name and cause of death after an autopsy and after her family has been notified, police said, and the department has not released her name.

What police say happened

According to the department's preliminary account, the victim had just bought several items when another woman took the items from outside the victim's vehicle. Police say the victim approached the other woman, who was sitting inside her own vehicle, and demanded her property back.

Police allege that the driver then struck the victim with the vehicle and fled. WDSU, the city's NBC affiliate, reported that police said the driver struck the woman twice with the car before fleeing the scene. Police have not said whether they believe the collision was intentional, and no arrest has been announced.

The car detectives are looking for

The suspect is described by police as a white woman. Her vehicle is a blue sedan with a spare tire mounted on the front passenger side, the most distinctive detail in the public description. Police have not released a make, model or license plate for the car, which is why the photo and the spare tire matter: a blue sedan is common on New Orleans streets, but a blue sedan running on a front passenger side spare is much easier to spot.

Elysian Fields Avenue is one of the city's main boulevards, running from the Mississippi River through Gentilly, and the 3100 block sits on a stretch where the avenue passes homes and small businesses. A car moving through that corridor at 2:15 a.m. would have passed under street lights and past homes and storefronts, and detectives are working through whatever camera footage and witness accounts the corridor can give them.

How to send a tip

Anyone who recognizes the suspect or the vehicle, or who saw the collision, can contact the Traffic Fatality Unit detectives at 504-658-6205. Anonymous tips can go to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111, or toll free at 1-877-903-STOP, or online at crimestoppersgno.org.

The investigation is being handled by the department's Traffic Fatality Unit. Police have set no deadline for a further update, and the next public facts in the case are likely to be the coroner's release of the victim's name or a police update identifying the driver or the vehicle.