A vehicle struck two pedestrians on University Avenue Monday night, causing police to block off a portion of the road and reroute traffic for over an hour.

Madison Police Department Sgt. Sue Armagost said the accident occurred around 6:45 p.m. near the intersection of University Avenue and Mills Street. Police responded to a call and found two victims, one male and one female, injured at the scene.

Paramedics transported the victims to UW-Hospital. Both were in stable condition and being treated for non-life threatening injuries, Armagost said.
Armagost could not confirm the victims’ ages but said it was likely the two are “student-age.”

Backpacks and winter coats remained scattered across University Avenue as police surveyed the scene of the crash and redirected traffic onto Mills Street.

UW-Madison sophomore Gabe Rosen said he was walking to a review session in the Psychology Building around 7 p.m. when he witnessed the aftermath of the crash.

“There was a fire truck and ambulance and police and they were directing trafficaway and they had stretchers out,” Rosen said.

According to Armagost, the driver, a 23-year-old female from Hartland, is not a student and was not injured in the crash.

In a separate incident early Sunday, police allege an intoxicated driver hit a pedestrian at the intersection of University Avenue and North Frances Street and attempted to drive away.

According to a police report, the 21-year-old male victim was crossing University Avenue when a vehicle failed to stop at a red light and hit him.
The victim sustained only minor injuries, according to the report.

As the vehicle attempted to drive away, a witness grabbed onto the vehicle’s spoiler and yelled for the driver to stop, police said.

After a short distance, a University of Wisconsin Police Department Officer stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver, 22-year-old Oscar Naxi of Fitchburg.

Police said Naxi is tentatively charged with causing injury while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated among other charges.