Woman dragged half a block dies in Near North Side hit-and-run

CHICAGO - A 55-year-old Arizona woman died after she was struck and dragged a half block by a hit-and-run driver Monday night on the Near North Side.

She was one of two women about to cross the street in the first block of East Hubbard Street near the Merchandise Mart when a male driving a silver-colored Ford Explorer SUV hit her and another woman, Chicago police said.

Zoraleigh Ryan, of Chandler, Arizona, was dragged about half a block at 10:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead on the scene, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. The second woman, 20, was treated for minor abrasions and released from a hospitalized, police said.

Officers nearby tried to stop the driver, but he sped off, police said.