‘It was awful': Dog injured in Del Ray hit-and-run

An Alexandria family is searching for the driver who hit their dog and then took off.

The crash happened on Oct. 23 along Commonwealth Avenue in Del Ray.

The dog, a 3-year-old terrier named Asher, is now recovering from three broken ribs and fractures to his leg and knee.

Video taken in the vet emergency room shows Asher trying his best to be brave as he watches cartoons shortly after he got hit by the car while out for a walk.

“It was awful,” said Amanda Trotenberg, Asher’s owner. “It’s been keeping me up at night, it’s something I will never forget – that image in my head of watching a car hit my dog and roll over.”

Trotenberg said a red Sedan sped through without stopping, nearly hitting her as well.
She’s eight months pregnant.

Trotenberg said she hopes the driver can be found and taught the importance of safe driving.

“Calm down and drive slower,” she said. “You hit a dog, you nearly hit a pregnant woman. I think there’s a lot we can do to make that intersection safer, too.”

News4 found there have been at least four other collisions at that intersection in the past decade. Three of them were rear-end crashes, and the fourth was a car hitting a pedestrian.

As for Asher, he has to wear a cone for several more weeks.

But Trotenberg said Asher is a fighter. She initially found him abandoned, wandering around on a street called Ash Street, which is where he got his name. He was extremely dehydrated and exhausted, and she knew she had to take him in.

She’s now had Asher for two years.

“He’s just a sweet, sweet little energetic boy, and we’re excited for him to be a big brother for a baby on the way,” Campbell said.

News4 reached out to Alexandria police to ask if there’s any surveillance footage from the crash that night and has not yet heard back.