'They came out of nowhere': Young children recovering after running stop sign, being hit by car
ENID, Okla. (KFOR) - Two young children are recovering in the hospital after they were struck by a car while riding a mini electric bike. The driver says she didn't see them and a neighbor believes her.
"I felt something and I heard a bang," said Terri Whitney, a neighbor. "I thought 'Oh my god, I hope it’s not those kids.'"
Enid Police said when they responded to Park and Quincy Wednesday afternoon, they found a 3-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy laying in the road. They were bloody and hurt.
"All of a sudden she screams 'She just hit those kids!'" said a witness to an officer. "The little girl was unconscious. She wasn’t alert at all and his eyes were going back up into his head."
Enid police said they were riding a small electric bike on the wrong side of the road when a car came.
"The children had pulled out in front of her after running a stop sign," said Cass Rains with the Enid Police Department.
Body camera footage says the driver was frantic.
"I was just coming down the road and all of sudden these kids run out in front of me," she told officers. "They came out of nowhere! I didn’t see them!"
She has not been charged and cooperated with police.
"I’ve never hit somebody like that in my life," she told police. "I’ve never hurt someone."
A nearby neighbor says she believes her.
"It was very small," said Terri Whitley. "If they had darted out in front of her there’s no possible way she would’ve seen them. They would’ve been lower than the grill."
Whitley said she's seen the boy riding up and down the street. She doesn't believe it has brakes.
"He was braking down this hill with his feet the entire time," said Whitley. "I was telling him, 'You’ve got to get out of the road, get out of the road. You cannot ride on this road.'"
Enid Police said the 8-year-old boy had serious injuries. The 3-year-old girl was also very hurt.
"Both of the children were flown to OU Children’s hospital in Oklahoma City," said Rains.
The driver told officers she was only driving 24-miles-per-hour. Whitley told News 4 drivers never speed on the road because of potholes.
Officers said the investigation is still in it's early stages.