Woman hit by car while filling up gas tank. She’s the one going to jail

A woman filling up a gas tank on the side of the road was hit by another car, but she may be the one going to jail, according to Porterville police.

The car that Cristal Mena, 26, was driving Tuesday around midnight ran out of gas on West Henderson Avenue near Balmayne Drive. She came to a stop at the curb of the eastbound lane with no lights activated.

Turns out, the car Mena was driving was reported stolen in the Porterville area, police said.

As Mena used a fuel container to fill the tank on the driver’s side, a vehicle driving east on Henderson swerved to go around the stalled car, but hit Mena.

She was taken to a hospital via air ambulance with moderate injuries, police said.

The other driver remained on the scene and is fully cooperating with police.

It was found that Mena and her passenger, 25-year-old Mark Martin, had outstanding arrest warrants. Stolen and forged checks and credit cards were found inside the stolen car, authorities said.

Mena was first admitted into the hospital for treatment, and Martin was booked into jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 8:40 AM.