Va. Beach police: No charges for driver who hit girl, 8

VIRGINIA BEACH

A driver who struck an 8-year-old girl Wednesday evening will not face charges, police said Thursday.

The girl, whose name police have not released, remained stable but with life-threatening injuries at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, said Officer Adam Bernstein, a police spokesman.

The driver struck the girl about 5:45 p.m. as she crossed Sandbridge Road for soccer practice at Red Mill Elementary School, police said. Her father had parked on a dead-end street across from the school and was helping another sibling from the car. He yelled at the girl to stop, but she continued across the road, Bernstein said.

She made it across the street's eastbound lane before the driver of a sedan struck her, Bernstein said.

The driver did not break any laws, Bernstein said. There is no crosswalk where the crash occurred, and the driver wasn't speeding, he said.

"It just looks like a tragic accident," Bernstein said. "The driver said she never saw her until it was too late."

Sue McKechnie said she drove by shortly after the crash and saw the girl lying still on the ground, wearing a neck brace. The driver had slumped onto a nearby fence sobbing, she said.

"You just feel so heartbroken for this little girl and her parents," McKechnie said.

Police are talking to the city's traffic engineers to consider blocking the dead-end street, which often is used for parking when the school's lot is full, Bernstein said.

"Hopefully we won't have kids crossing the street there anymore," he said.

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com