Mount Airy police are investigating an incident involving a motorist fleeing a traffic stop, driving a car into the playground of a child-care center and then scaling a fence there to escape along with an accomplice.
This occurred about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Kinder Care facility on South South Street, where the small car occupied by the driver and one other person was left behind.
At the time, no children were in the playground at Kinder Care, which provides day-care, pre-school and early education services beginning with nursery age. The fact weather conditions Wednesday were rainy and chilly is thought to have played a role in that.
“No one was hurt in the accident,” Brenda Fletcher, the center’s director, confirmed in an alert sent Thursday morning to parents with kids there to notify them about the hit-and-run incident.
“The suspects immediately took off, jumping the fence and leaving the area,” Fletcher further advised. The occupants of the car included a black male and a white female.
Police Chief Dale Watson said Thursday that the female involved has been identified as a juvenile, and information was being sought to aid in the apprehension of the male suspect.
He said the situation unfolded when an attempt was made by police to pull over the lime-green car they were in as part of what he termed an “investigatory stop.”
“Upon initiating the stop, they fled,” Watson said of the pair.
After the two sped away, the vehicle apparently went out of control near the Kinder Care site at 401 S. South St.
The car went through a fence on what Fletcher, the center director, termed an “older side” of the playground.
While no one was injured, the incident caused property damage for which an estimate was not immediately available.
Meanwhile, someone inside the Kinder Care facility took pictures through a window as the entire event took place, capturing images of the pair dashing past small playground riding toys en route to the fence.
The male suspect clears it first, and appears afterward to be urging the female to pull herself over.
Chief Watson commented Thursday that the situation could have been tragic had it occurred on a warm sunny day when the playground might have been filled with kids.
In light of that potential, the actions of the driver in plowing through the fence showed a total disregard for “the well-being and safety of others,” he said.
Anyone with information about the case which could lead to an arrest is asked to call the Mount Airy Police Department at 336-786-3535.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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