The Penn State student taken by helicopter to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville following a traffic accident Sunday evening remained in critical condition yesterday.

Rescue workers used the Jaws of Life to remove 19-year-old Sara Hendler (junior-advertising-public relations) from her seat in the passenger side of a 1986 Chrysler LeBaron that was involved in a two- vehicle crash.

The accident happened at the intersection of North Atherton Street and Pollock Road. A portion of North Atherton was closed for approximately three hours after the accident.

Nicholas Haneiko (junior-psychology), the driver of the LeBaron, was taken to Centre Community Hospital and is listed in good condition, but had not been released as of last night.

According to a police affidavit, on-scene witnesses said there were two passengers inside the green Mazda that struck the LeBaron carrying Hendler and Haneiko. After the accident, witnesses said both of the passengers fled the scene on foot.

The driver, a 17-year-old juvenile from Bellefonte, said he fled the scene because he was afraid and nervous and was not thinking clearly. He said the traffic light at the intersection where the accident occurred was green when he approached it, adding however that he was also in the left-hand lane behind several cars waiting to turn when the accident occurred.

The driver said he had been at a church service earlier in the evening and had then gone to the Intramural Building on campus with the owner of the green Mazda involved in the accident, who later asked him to drive a friend home.

The driver said he did not know the passenger riding with him. No charges have been filed against the driver, but are expected upon completion of the investigation according to State College Police. The driver said police were in contact with him yesterday and said they would call again today.

Officer Robert Keen, Traffic Accident Reconstructionist for the State College Police Department, obtained a search warrant yesterday to search inside the Mazda to collect evidence and determine where the occupants were sitting inside the vehicle.

Keen's examination of the Mazda while on the scene revealed two areas of contact. One was on the windshield where one of the victims could have struck the windshield and the other on the passenger door, where there were drops of human blood. There was also blood on the ground outside of the passenger door.

In addition to two skid marks made by the Mazda, police also found what appeared to be a shoe print on the brake pedal from the force of the driver applying the brakes before the accident.

Keen seized several items from inside the car for evidence purposes, including blood scrapings, the brake pedal cover and parts of the windshield.

The passenger in the Mazda had also fled with the driver, however the passenger has not yet been identified. Witnesses describe the passenger as a white male who should have a serious head wound.

The State College police urge anyone with information about the identity of the passenger to contact the State College Police Department at 234-7150.