Police announce a $20,000 reward for information on a Northeast Philly hit and run

Philadelphia police on Friday announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver who fatally struck a 60-year-old grandmother in Northeast Philadelphia last year.

Saixiang Lin, who came to the United States from China, was hit shortly before 6 a.m. Nov. 10 as she was walking near Summerdale Avenue and St. Vincent Street in the Castor Gardens neighborhood. She was pronounced dead the next day at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital.

Police Capt. Mark Overwise of the Accident Investigation District said the reward will come from city funds. Police previously released surveillance video of the 2005 to 2009 white or silver Chevy Uplander minivan that struck Lin, and images of the male driver, who was wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, and work boots and was seen shortly afterward parking at Tyson and Algon Avenues, a few blocks from the crash scene.

“This is a very unique vehicle,” as Chevrolet did not make many minivans of that model, Overwise said during a virtual news conference. The vehicle, captured on neighborhood surveillance video, had black wheels, he said.

At Friday’s news conference, Joy Lin, the victim’s daughter-in-law, asked for the public’s help in identifying the driver. “We want to give her peace,” she said. “We want to catch this guy.”

Anyone who recognizes the driver is asked to call police at 215-685-3180 or 215-685-3181.