Pedestrian hit by fellow Purdue student

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A pedestrian was struck by a car on Purdue University's campus around noon on Thursday.

Purdue police said 18-year-old Marcijo Elaine Bressani was struck by a car driven by 22-year-old Haito Yang near the corner of University and State Streets. Both were Purdue students.

Purdue University Police Department Lieutenant Dennis Shepard said Bressani did not look both ways before crossing the road.

"Apparently she looked to the right and failed to look to the left. When she went to cross the street, she was either texting or on the phone and didn't see the car," said Shepard.

Shepard said the car struck the pedestrian in the hip. Bressani was transported to St. Elizabeth hospital, where she was treated and released.

Minor damage was visible on the car.

"The windshield had a little bit of a crack to it and the car had a little bit of a dent," said Shepard.

Eric Chin, captain of Special Services at the Purdue Police Department, said both students were cited. Yang was cited for not having a valid driver's license. Bressani was cited for crossing a roadway at a point not marked as a crosswalk.

Both citations carry a $125 fine.

This crash was one of several on campus since school began:

Chin shared statistics on campus accidents in the past few months. Throughout June and July there were no crashes involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, and only one involving a vehicle and a bicycle.

Chin's numbers showed one vehicle-pedestrian crash in August and two in September thus far, as well as three vehicle-bike crashes in August.

That's a total of six campus crashes since the start of August that involved a pedestrian or someone on a bicycle.