Two Virginia Tech students were struck by a car and injured while walking in downtown Blacksburg early Saturday, Blacksburg police said.

Kellsye Pitsenbarger and Amanda Tyus, both 21, were walking west on the Progress Street sidewalk when an eastbound 2001 Honda Civic moving quickly ran off the right side of the road and struck them about 1:40 a.m., according to Blacksburg police Sgt. Nathan O'Dell.

Police said the driver of the Honda Civic also is a Tech student.

Pitsenbarger, of Churchville, was struck by the front driver's side of the car and knocked into the road, O'Dell said.

Tyus, of Chester, was struck by the front of the car and thrown onto the hood and through the windshield, O'Dell said.

With Tyus still in the windshield, the car continued through the front yard of a house in the 1000 block of Progress Street, crashed through a chain-link fence and traveled into the next yard, where it struck a tree and finally came to a stop, O'Dell said.

Tyus and Pitsenbarger were taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital. Pitsenbarger was admitted there with injuries to her leg and head, O'Dell said.

Tyus suffered head trauma, he said. She was transferred from Montgomery Regional to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in fair condition Saturday morning, according to Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart. Pitsenbarger's condition was not available Saturday.

The driver of the car, 20-year-old Ryan William Wresch, was charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, O'Dell said. He said Wresch, of Cold Spring Hills, N.Y., took a breath test to check his blood-alcohol level. A search revealed that he had a small amount of marijuana in a small, plastic container, O'Dell said.

Wresch and his passenger, whose name was not available, weren't hurt. Police said both were wearing seat belts and that the vehicle's air bags deployed as a result of the crash.

Progress Street was closed from Winston Avenue to Watson Avenue for about five hours while police investigated the crash.

On June 16, 2007, about 2 a.m., former Virginia Tech student Mary Elizabeth Bowen, now 21, crashed her vehicle into a crowd of people outside a sports bar in Blacksburg.

At least eight people were treated for injuries.

Bowen's blood-alcohol content shortly after the crash exceeded the legal limit. She told police that she was sending a text message on her cellphone when she swerved onto the sidewalk.

In mid-August, a judge ordered Bowen, who had been convicted of maiming three people, to serve one year and 10 days of a seven-year sentence.

Staff writer Duncan Adams contributed to this report.