Lexi Gutierrez is asking for help after her brother was hit by a vehicle in a crosswalk Monday evening near the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course while walking home from Fred Meyer, where he works as a cart and bag boy.  

Nouisa Gutierrez, 23,  was in the middle of a crosswalk when a pickup truck hit him at high speed and dragged him down the road,” Lexi Gutierrez said on a GoFundMe post. “The driver didn’t stop — left him lying alone on the road, injured. His femur snapped, and he needed surgery.”  

She said Nouisa has autism and recently started walking home on his own. 

According to his sister, Nouisa was finally home resting Thursday, but requires close monitoring as he works through this recovery process.

"He is making progress day by day, staying strong, and fighting through the excruciating pain with so much courage," Lexi Gutierrez wrote.

 Nouisa’s mother, Deborah, said witnesses at the scene near Ramsey and Golf Course Road followed the driver and then called the police to report his license plate number.

“Officers were able to locate the suspect and arrested him on hit-and-run charges,” said Coeur d’Alene Police Department Sgt. Jared Reneau.   

According to Kootenai County District Court records, 34-year-old Lance Thomas Prince, driving a blue 1999 F150 pickup truck, hit Nouisa Gutierrez in the crosswalk, leaving him lying in the middle of the street, failing to stop and render any aid. 

A witness followed Prince. 

Court records show police located Prince at the Coeur d’Alene RV Resort on Mullan Avenue, just west of Walmart. Prince admitted to accidentally hitting Gutierrez and fleeing “due to him being fearful.” 

He was arrested for felony hit-and-run, punishable by up to five years in prison; charged with driving without privileges due to a suspended driver’s license for lack of insurance; and booked at the Kootenai County jail.  

First District Judge Katherine Murdock ordered Tuesday that Prince be held on $100,000 bail, citing the seriousness of the allegations.

“I am quite concerned,” she said. 

Lexi said her brother is facing a long road to recovery.  

“He won’t be able to work for a long time, and our family, already struggling financially, is now facing even greater challenges,” she said.  

That, his mom expressed, pales in comparison to what might have been the alternative.  

“We are grateful he’s alive,” Deborah said.  

Lexi has started a GoFundMe account, hoping to raise $8,000 to help cover medical and other mounting costs. As of Friday, it had raised about $500.

“The money raised will go directly toward my brother’s medical bills, food, safe transportation and help pay our rent,” Lexi said. “We are scared and overwhelmed, but we are deeply thankful for any help our community can offer.”  

Info: www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-my-brother-after-hitandrun