PHOENIX — A Maricopa County Superior Court judge is in extremely critical condition after she was struck by a vehicle while walking in east Phoenix Wednesday morning.
At about 8 a.m. Wednesday, Phoenix police responded to the area of 56th Street and Camelback Road for reports of a pedestrian that had been hit.
When officers arrived, they learned that a woman, identified by a court spokesman as Judge Rosa Mroz, was crossing the road when she was struck by a black Hyundai.
Mroz was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition.
The driver remained on the scene.
A preliminary investigation indicates the driver of the Hyundai failed to stop for a red light, according to Phoenix police.
“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised,” said Staci Garlieb.
Garlieb lives near the Arcadia area of 56th Street and Camelback Road. She and her two dogs are regular walkers.
"We wait until the light is red for 10 to 15 seconds before we even attempt to get into the intersection, we've been nearly run over at least a dozen times in the past year," she said.
It's unclear if charges will be filed against the driver.
In 2020, Judge Rosa Mroz won the trailblazer award for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. In a video done for the honor, she said she was appointed as a judge by Janet Napolitano in 2004.
Judge Mroz said at the time that she came to America from Taiwan and became a citizen when she turned 18. The Judge who swore her in left a lasting impression that led her to become a lawyer and eventually, she says, one of the only Asian judges in Arizona.
"There are things you need to do as a citizen, to make democracy and what we like about the United States go forward, and one of those things is being a public servant,” said Judge Mroz in the video.
The investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
