A North Platte woman was seriously injured Friday evening when she was struck by a vehicle and drug.

According to Investigator John Deal, officers responded to the report of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle near Philip Avenue and Tabor Street at around 7:26 p.m.

Officers arrived and found 39-year-old Emma Heinemann, of North Platte, laying in the eastbound lane of Philip Avenue.  A rescue unit from the North Platte Fire Department soon arrived and transported Heinemann to Great Plains Health with head and leg injuries.  Deal said she was later transported to Kearney’s CHI Good Samaritan, where she remains in unknown condition.

Witnesses told officers that Heinemann had been crossing the street when she was struck by a blue Ford Explorer.  It was determined that the Explorer had been driven by 48-year-old Virgil Apodaca, who was still on the scene.  Initially, Apodaca indicated to officers that he was a witness, but his account was soon disproven by numerous witnesses.

It was reported that Heinemann was crossing the street in a diagonal fashion from the northwest corner of Philip and Tabor to the southeast corner of the intersection.  Deal says it appears that Heinemann was in the middle of the intersection when Apodaca turned left onto Philip from Tabor and stuck her.

According to Deal, Apodaca drug Heinemann for about 75 feet before he realized that he had hit her. He claimed he did not see Heinemann in the roadway and stopped once he realized he had hit something.

Further investigation revealed that Apodaca had a 15-year license suspension in effect.  As a result, he was placed under arrest and charged with felony driving under suspension.

Deal said Apodaca did not appear to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the accident, but he was taken to GPH for a blood draw.  Police are still awaiting the results of the blood test.

Apodaca was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.  The accident remains under investigation.