Dallas hit-and-run victim has emergency surgery after stroke

A young woman critically injured on Good Friday in a hit-and run accident had to have an emergency procedure over the weekend to stay alive.

Ann Marie Palao’s mother says she suffered a massive stroke Saturday then underwent emergency surgery on Sunday to remove part of her skull to reduce brain swelling.

Dallas police are still trying to find the woman they say first rear-ended Palao and her boyfriend on Camp Wisdom Road, then hit Palao as she was outside her car assessing the damage. Palao's boyfriend says the driver drove with Palao on the hood of her vehicle for nearly a mile until she fell off and was critically injured.

“My daughter did not deserve this. She is a very lovable person. Funny. She loves sports. She's going to college to become a vet,” said mom Claudia Luna. “I could just imagine [the driver] looking straight at my daughter's face while she was doing this. This was very heartless.”

Luna says she hardly recognizes her daughter's face after the incident, which is now classified as an aggravated assault by police. Palao was still fighting for her life at Dallas Methodist Medical Center on Monday night.

Palao's sister wants the woman identified and arrested.

“We want justice for her. We don't want this person out. She could do it to somebody else,” said Alejandra Briones.

Palao's boyfriend, Jorge Villegas, said the detective on the case has Palao's phone, which has videos she took of the vehicles involved in the crash and the woman who drove that SUV. He said her phone broke during the incident, so he does not know if police have been able to recover those videos.

Palao believes the white SUV was a crossover, but does not have any specifics beyond that.