CARBONDALE, Ill. (WJPF) – Police in Carbondale are investigating after a party escalated to a fist fight and then to a vehicular hit and run.

At about 3:50 a.m. Sunday, Carbondale Police say officers were observing a party on the parking lot of a business in the 300 block of East Walnut with an estimated the crowd size of between 250 and 300 people.

Police say a fight broke out between several women in the crowd. Moments later, the driver of white SUV tried to leave, hiting at least one person and several other vehicles. The crowd then turned it’s attention to the SUV driver. Police say they surrounded the SUV, blocking the driver’s exit. The crowd then began hitting the SUV and even opened the driver’s door, in an attempt to pull the woman out of the vehicle.

Officers used pepper spray to break up the crowd and the SUV driver took off. She later crashed on Route 13, near Pin Oak Drive, and abandoned the vehicle.

Police are still looking for the driver, described only as a Black woman in her early twenties.