PROVIDENCE — A woman who told investigators that she did not realize that she had struck anyone was charged yesterday in a fatal hit-and-run accident in which a disabled man was killed, the police said.

Shana Lee, 26, of 63 Salmon St., was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting.

Lee allegedly was driving a rented 2008 Dodge Avenger in the rain at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, westbound on Atwells Avenue near Carleton Street, when the accident occurred.

The car struck Adolfo Gonzalez, 54, of 31 Yale Ave., who was carrying a cane, the police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

An accident report said it was not clear where in the street Gonzalez stood when he was struck and his body hurled about 70 feet. But Sgt. Paul Zienowicz, commander of the police Traffic Services unit, said it appeared that Gonzalez was walking home.

The police found debris from the accident at the scene, including an emblem from a Dodge, and put out a public notice that they were looking for a dark-colored car, possibly a gray Dodge Magnum.

Patrolman Thomas Connetta of the police Traffic Services Bureau checked apartment complexes within a mile or so, including Hillcrest Apartments at 40 Leander St., which he knew as a favored dumping area for stolen cars, according to Deputy Police Chief Paul Kennedy.

In a corner of a parking lot at the rear of the complex, Connetta found the Avenger with damage to the windshield and hood and a missing emblem, consistent with the physical evidence collected in the investigation, at about 10 a.m. yesterday, the police said. Having determined that the Avenger was rented from Enterprise rent-a-car and by whom, the police contacted Lee and had her come to police headquarters.

Lee was “cooperative and forthcoming” in making a statement in which she acknowledged driving the car that night, said Sgt. Paul Zienowicz, commander of the Traffic Services unit. She said that she did not realize that she had struck someone with the car, according to Zienowicz. The car was found approximately six blocks from Lee’s home.

The Avenger was a weekend rental, and Lee telephoned Enterprise after the accident in an attempt to keep it for a full week, according to Zienowicz.

She was charged and held overnight in a cell at headquarters pending arraignment in District Court today.

After towing the car to headquarters and obtaining a search warrant, officers last night were examining the car for evidence.

Zienowicz congratulated Connetta for his “bloodhound work” in locating the vehicle, and Kennedy complimented all of the officers whose efforts led to a swift clearance of the alleged crime, including Zienowicz and Patrolmen John Sigillo and John Manzotti.

gsmith@projo.com