The woman dragged for 3 miles underneath an SUV remained hospitalized Tuesday, a day after she was hit by the vehicle in Chinatown and entangled in its undercarriage until the driver stopped her car in Dorchester.
The victim, whose name was not released, is undergoing treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, whose office is prosecuting the driver.
“The doctors had some early concerns that the grievous nature of her injuries might require amputation of one or both of her arms, but the doctors were able to prevent that outcome,’’ Wark said Tuesday.
Still, Wark said, the woman’s injuries are extensive and life-changing.
“They will affect her quality of life, most likely for as long as she lives,’’ Wark said.
Boston police are continuing their investigation and have obtained a search warrant for the 2015 Toyota RAV4 Xiao Ying Zhou was driving around 1:40 a.m. Monday when she allegedly struck the 48-year-old woman and her 56-year-old husband while both were near the intersection of Kneeland Street and Harrison Avenue in Chinatown.
The husband was found at the scene by first responders and was taken to a Boston hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening, officials said.
But his wife somehow became entangled in the undercarriage of the RAV4 and remained there while Zhou drove onto the Southeast Expressway to the Columbia Road/Morrissey Boulevard exit.
Once on Columbia Road, Zhou kept driving until she finally pulled over near Boston Street, prosecutors have said.
Zhou pleaded not guilty Monday in Boston Municipal Court to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and leaving the scene of an accident. Bail was set at $5,000 cash. She remains in jail, according to a spokesman for Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins.
Her lawyer acknowledged Monday that Zhou, 45, who recently moved from Chinatown to Cape Cod, trapped and dragged the woman, but said she did so unwittingly and tried to help the woman as soon as she realized what had happened.
Prosecutors, however, said Zhou drove at least 2.5 miles with the woman trapped underneath the SUV before stopping. After Zhou looked under her SUV, she allegedly immediately got back into her car and drove another three-quarters of a mile before stopping on Columbia Road.
John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.
