Alleged Hit-and-Run Driver Arrested; 11-Year-Old Hurt in Crash

A Barrington woman who allegedly hit an 11-year-old pedestrian in Haddonfield and fled the scene told police she panicked and left without helping the girl, Haddonfield Police say.

Barbara Messerschmidt, 69, was arrested April 16 after officers spent several days searching for the reported driver in the April 13 hit-and-run. She was charged with knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury and endangering an injured victim.

The girl was crossing the street near Rite Aid and P.J. Whelihan's restaurant on the 700 block of North Haddon Avenue around 8:30 p.m. April 13 when Messerschmidt allegedly hit her. The victim was taken by ambulance to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was last listed in stable condition with head and leg injuries.

Messerschmidt reportedly confessed to the incident to Haddonfield detectives on Tuesday evening. She told police she was unable to stop before hitting the girl, panicked and fled, police said. Messerschmidt was charged and released on a summons to appear in court.

This is the second pedestrian accident in a month on that stretch of Haddon Avenue near the Haddonfield-Haddon Township border. A Collingswood woman was hit by a car near the area on St. Patrick's Day.

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