Girl, run over by family car, in critical condition

Afsha Bawany

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003 | 11:40 a.m.

A 2-year-old girl run over by her parents' sport utility vehicle in their North Las Vegas driveway Tuesday remained in critical condition this morning, police said.

The accident happened as the family was preparing to leave their home in the 2900 block of Webster Street, near Cheyenne Avenue and Civic Center Drive about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Officer Justin Roberts, North Las Vegas Police spokesman, said.

The mother had placed her 4-year-old son in the front driver's side of their 1990 Isuzu Amigo, and the girl was apparently near the right rear of the SUV waiting to be lifted into the vehicle, Roberts said.

When the boy moved to the back seat, he apparently jostled the gear shift and put the car into neutral. It began to roll backward down the inclined driveway. The mother told police she tried to keep the vehicle from moving, but it was too heavy. It traveled across the street and wound up on the other sidewalk, Roberts said.

The parents discovered the girl on the driveway. The right rear tire had run over her head, Roberts said.

The family's names were not released by police this morning. Roberts said police did not foresee filing a charge of negligence against the parents, but the investigation is ongoing.

"At this point it appears to have been just a tragic accident and there were no drugs or alcohol involved," he said.

"We're still investigating and trying to piece together exactly what happened, but the family is, of course, traumatized, and the only other people that were around were some little kids (who) were riding bikes in the neighborhood and heard the screaming," Roberts said.

Police towed the vehicle to "go over every inch of it, to check the parking brake, the gear shift and everything else," he said.

This morning several neighbors -- most of whom have small children -- said it was hard to come to terms with what happened. The tire tracks could be seen on the sidewalk where the SUV came to rest, and investigators' green spray paint markings remained on the street.

"It's just so very sad, so very sad," said Alma Cordova, 25, who lives a few houses down from the accident.

Rosaora Perez, who lives four houses away, said her children had seen all the police activity Tuesday.

"We were playing right over here," Perez's 9-year-old son, Andres, said. "I saw that the boy (the victim's 4-year-old brother) was OK."

Guadalupe Chavez Sr. said his sons, 11-year-old Guadalupe Chavez Jr., and 7-year-old Marcelo Chavez, were riding their bikes in the street when the accident happened.

He said they told him that they noticed the vehicle roll to a stop across the street and the elder boy ran over to the car to pull the 4-year-old out of the open back seat of the half-convertible SUV "because he looked like he was about to fall out or jump out."

"The mom was out of her mind" over what had happened, Chavez Sr. said.

"It's pretty bad," he said. "Nobody wants those things to happen. I hate to see this kind of thing happen to anyone."