Woman Cited After Trick-Or-Treater Hit By Car In Lowell
LOWELL (CBS) -- A woman has been cited after police say she struck a four-year-old trick-or-treater with her car Monday night.
That child is now in stable condition after undergoing surgery.
Lowell Police said Carlenys Arroyo, 27 of Lowell, was cited with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and has had her right to drive revoked by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The child was out trick-or-treating with his mother on Marshall Avenue around 7:18 p.m. when police said Arroyo struck him with her Grey Honda Civic.
The street is known to be a busy one during Halloween trick-or-treat.
"It's a very congested street, especially on Halloween," said Lowell Police Capt. Timothy Crowley. "There's hundreds of kids up in that neighborhood that go house to house."
Witnesses said the boy darted out in front of the car, which was travelling at a low speed.
Police said Arroyo got out of the car and talked to a witness, but drove away after seeing the boy lying in the street.
He was taken to Lowell General Hospital with a serious head laceration, but was conscious and alert at the time.
Police said Tuesday morning that the child was in stable condition at Tufts Medical Center after having surgery on a laceration near his eye.
Stephen Fay was driving just behind the car that hit the boy.
"I saw the car go right over the kid and I saw the kid laying on the ground," Fay said. "Then the car stopped and people started screaming and someone said call 911."
A witness followed Arroyo, and police eventually tracked her down less than ten minutes after the crash.
According to police, Arroyo was also out trick-or-treating, and had two 2-year-old twins and an adult male passenger in her car. Alcohol or speeding were not factors in the crash, and police said she had a clean driving record.
The District Attorney's office agreed with police that the crash warranted only a citation for the misdemeanor of leaving the scene.
After Lowell Police submitted an application against Arroyo as an immediate threat, the RMV revoked her right to operate a vehicle.
A court date for Arroyo has yet to be determined.
Police said there was another crash involving a trick-or-treater hit by a car in Lowell Monday night. They said the 7-year-old trick-or-treater's injuries were "very minor," and the driver in that crash stayed on the scene and was not charged.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
