Street vendors are part of San Diego’s identity, whether they're selling churros or, like Wendy Pryor, flowers.
One day in early August after she got off the clock, Pyro, tired and looking to catch the bus home, crossed with her bike in front of a parking structure on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego's Rolando neighborhood when she got a ride she never wanted.
“All of a sudden this truck comes barreling out of there,” Pyro said, “and he hit me.”
Pyro said a Ford Expedition hit her bike first and then dragged her down with it.
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Police have issued a felony hit-and-run warrant for the man they say is the driver, Alejandro Manuel Tejada. The further Tejada drove … the more the pavement tore Pyro’s skin.
“I didn't see my life flashing before my eyes,” Pyro said. “I saw my death coming really fast.”
Pyro never saw Tejada’s face but said if she could see him today, she wouldn’t say a word.
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“It would be nice to look him in the eye and just be like [flashes middle finger]," Pyro said. "Excuse me.”
The hit-and-run victim's recovery has been rough but steady. Several skin grafts and surgeries later, she’s almost ready to go home. Meanwhile, her community has been beside her the whole time, supporting her recovery by raising money and awareness for their “boss punk flower lady.” She expects to go home in the next couple of weeks.
For Pyro, her job started as a way for her to get by.
“When I first started selling flowers, I was homeless again, and I had all my belongings on my bicycle,” Pyro said. “I used to roll them up in a yoga mat, so then I would just look like all the other women in Hillcrest going to yoga class.”
Now, however, selling flowers is a part of her she can’t wait to get back to, on a corner that can’t wait for her return either.
If convicted, Tejada could serve up to nine years in prison and pay a fine up to $10,000.
