(Photo by Katie Meyer for WSB)
We have more information today on last night’s 44th/Stevens hit-run crash that sent four people to the hospital, including two children, who we now know are 5 and 9 years old. Police say the driver reported to have run from the scene is a juvenile – 16 years old – and that his breath test was over the legal drunkenness level. Read on for more details:
First, the report gets into the logistics of the crash – Witnesses say the suspect’s car was going southbound on 44th “at a high rate of speed” and that “when (it) approached SW Stevens St. it did not slow down or yield to the EB or WB traffic. The vehicle entered the intersection and struck the side of (the other car). The vehicle that was struck rolled over and landed on the wheels. There were no tire marks indicating the vehicle slowed down before entering the intersection and striking the other vehicle. Several witnesses at the scene stated they saw a (black male) approximately 18, brown hat worn backward, no shirt and white basketball shorts run away from the suspect vehicle.”
When police got to the scene, they say they first encountered a female (we’re still confirming her age) who said she had been driving and that she wasn’t sure why the male had run from the vehicle. The police officer who gave the report wrote “the odor of intoxicants (were) coming from her … I asked her where they were coming from. She stated they were at (a school) with a few other friends and they shared a half gallon of vodka. She stated she could not remember how much she drank and when I asked if she felt intoxicated she began to cry.” Though other evidence indicated she was a passenger, not a driver, police say she continued to insist she had been driving.
Meantime, the report says a witness called at 8:10 pm – about 23 minutes after fire was dispatched to the crash as a “heavy rescue/major” – to say she saw the suspect at 47th/Hill, after following him from the scene. Police caught up with him two minutes later, and, the report says, he admitted he had been driving, and ran from the scene because he was scared.
Back at the scene where the 16-year-old boy was found, he was arrested, and checked out by Fire Department medics. The only thing noted on the report is that he “had a very clear seatbelt mark on his left shoulder from not wearing a T-shirt during the collision.”
Police say the 16-year-old admitted to drinking vodka but claimed he had slowed down at the intersection to yield, but the vehicle didn’t stop for him. Police wrote, “I tried to explain … he had the yield sign and he was supposed to wait for the intersection to be clear before he could enter it. (He) clearly did not understand basic traffic law because he does not have a driver’s license and has not been to any driver safety courses.”
The report goes on to say that the boy’s mother was called to come pick him up at the precinct. He was cited and given a court date. The charges for which he was cited are DUI – he is reported to have blown .10 blood-alcohol level, twice – first-degree negligent driving, reckless driving, hit-run, no valid driver license/no ID. Charges are also requested against the female for “hindering law enforcement” and “false reporting.”
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