Driver cited in hit-and-run

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

North Las Vegas Police have cited an 18-year-old driver with running over a 3-year-old girl before driving away Wednesday night.

Traffic accident investigators issued five citations on Thursday to Ernest Harris III, who police say was chased by angry neighbors fed up with drivers speeding down their North Las Vegas street.

The offenses include failure to use due care while driving, leaving the scene of an injury accident, failure to report an injury accident, driving without a license and without insurance, North Las Vegas Police spokesman Tim Bedwell said.

The girl was in serious condition at University Medical Center, authorities said.

She had been holding her mother's hand and crossing the 1900 block of Carver Avenue, near Lake Mead Boulevard and Comstock Drive, about 6:30 p.m., Bedwell said.

When her mother stopped and turned to talk to a friend, the girl stepped away from her mother and was "basically run over" by a mid-1980s white Cadillac driven by Harris, Bedwell said.

The car stopped and neighbors crowded around the girl, Bedwell said. Then the car sped away.

A neighbor followed the Cadillac in his car and managed to write down the license plate number, police said.