Pedestrian struck by car while crossing Dardenne Prairie Bridge
COTTLEVILLE, Mo. – A woman is in the hospital recovering after a driver hit her as she was walking along the Dardenne Prairie Bridge in Cottleville, just hours after the Irish Festival.
According to a Cottleville Police Department spokesperson, the crash took place just after 9:50 p.m. Saturday on State Highway N at the bridge. Officers arrived at the scene and found the victim, a 36-year-old woman, on the shoulder of the highway with head injuries.
The Cottleville Fire Department and St. Charles County EMS brought the woman to the hospital.
The woman was walking along the shoulder when, according to witnesses, a vehicle struck her from behind.
The driver of the vehicle, a 59-year-old woman, was taken into custody at the scene for driving while intoxicated.
Family of missing Mizzou student Riley Strain speaks as search continues
The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.
“We don’t have pedestrian traffic there on a regular basis,” Cottleville Police Chief Dave McCune said. “Cottleville has a lot of trails through the park. It was just the circumstances of how the night unfolded and people were just walking down the highway.”
Police said neither the driver nor the victim are from Cottleville but were both in town for the weekend’s event. The cleanup from the festival continued on Monday.
“It was a sea of green. Everybody was just making their way around and it’s just an Irish festival,” Colton Bemis said.
Irish Fest is a big weekend for locally-owned businesses.
“It definitely brings a different pace to the day for us. It helps out with just bringing people to this. You drove through the town, just how cute it is, and how awesome of a place it is to be, and the people here are all amazing,” Bemis said.
Residents estimate around 20,000 people came out for the event over the weekend. Chief McCune said the last time he remembers seeing a crowd this big was back in 2015.
“I don’t think anyone would have anticipated that many people out here just to go to a couple of events at bars when you had the St. Louis City parade going on; Defiance parade was going on,” he said.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
