Police: Teen suspected driver of hit-and-run crash that left child seriously injured in Anne Arundel Co.
BALTIMORE -- A 4-year-old girl is recovering at a hospital after she was struck by a vehicle in broad daylight and left with life-threatening injuries.
The girl ran out into the roadway in Brooklyn Park on Monday. That's when she was struck by a 2024 Volkswagen Tiguan that police believe was driven by a 17-year-old boy from Baltimore, according to the Anne Arundel County Police Department.
The crash happened shortly before 4 p.m. at the 300 block of West Arden Road, police said.
It is unclear if the boy has been arrested.
The girl was rushed to Johns Hopkins Hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said. Those injuries were considered to be serious on Tuesday.
Witnesses helped officers find the car and the possible identity of the driver.
Anne Arundel County residents told WJZ said that the aftermath of the crash created chaos in their neighborhood.
"It wasn't a pretty sight," neighborhood resident Velen Alisha Barrett said. "It was very upsetting."
The sound of screams is something that Barrett said she would never forget. She described it as "a Mom's bloody murder scream."
The girl's pink sneaker landed in the middle of the road following the collision.
"I see her out here playing a lot and she's just a baby," Barrett said.
Police say that neighborhood residents were quick to take pictures of the car's license plate, which gave them a major lead in the investigation.
"Currently, the child is being treated at an area hospital with critical and originally life-threatening injuries but is in stable condition," Anne Arundel County Police spokesman Marc Limansky said.
Neighbors tell WJZ that they've been pushing for speed bumps on their street for years.
"They fly down this street like it's a racetrack," neighborhood resident David Harrell said.
Investigators do not believe that there was any negligence on the part of the girl's family.
"It's awful," Harrell said. "I hate to see another innocent kid hurt."