CINCINNATI -- The driver police say struck an Elder High School teacher and left the scene of the crash was given a $750,000 bond Wednesday morning by a Hamilton County judge.
According to a news release from the Cincinnati Police Department, 23-year-old Kayla Wilson was speeding and driving under the influence of marijuana on Warsaw Avenue when she hit Mark Klusman, an Elder teacher who was volunteering in East Price Hill.
Wilson was arrested Tuesday night in connected to the hit-and-run.
Klusman, whom Price Hill community members described as a well-loved fixture of their neighborhood, was hospitalized in the University of Cincinnati Medical Center's intensive care unit. Wilson stands charged with aggravated vehicular assault and failing to stop after a crash.
His family said he "suffered multiple traumas to his body," and Elder High School principal Kurt Ruffing said the longtime social studies teacher was "in need of our prayers."
Warsaw Avenue is one of Cincinnati's worst spots for pedestrians, according to a WCPO review of traffic crash records last year. Although the most-dangerous stretch didn't include the block where Klusman was injured, a man was killed last month in that area just to the west: Well-known East Price Hill business owner Federico Ventura died when he, too, was struck by a hit-and-run driver near a Kroger store.
After several high-profile pedestrian deaths, Cincinnati City Council directed administrators to improve pedestrian safety citywide -- and allocated $500,000 in funding in this year's budget.
