Elderly couple injured in hit-and-run accident

COLUMBIA — An elderly couple was injured Thursday night in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, police said.

Ronald Shannon was driving eastbound on Interstate 70 Drive Southwest near Business Loop 70 in a Toyota Avalon when an oncoming Ford Explorer struck his car, Columbia police Officer Curtis Perkins said.

Columbia firefighters extricated Shannon from the vehicle after the 6 p.m. crash.

“We ended up having to remove the roof of the car, and then immobilize him in the seat and lift him out,” Columbia Fire Department Division Chief Glenn Rusch said.

The driver of the SUV, Michael R. Norden, 32, of Columbia, fled the scene of the accident on foot, Perkins said.

Norden was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident and second-degree assault.

Paramedics transported Shannon to University Hospital in fair condition. Doris Shannon, also 70, was transported in good condition. Both were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

“It’s been quite an experience,” Ronald Shannon said by phone from his hospital bed.