As Missouri personal injury lawyers, we know that car accidents can have devastating consequences for vehicle occupants. This week, however, a Kansas City crash caused a sequence of events that ended with a car crashing through the wall of a daycare facility full of young children. On Tuesday, four people were injured - including three children - when the vehicle slammed into Christian Academy Child Care on East 27th Street. According to the Kansas City Star, a 74-year-old man was behind the wheel of a Range Rover when he rear-ended a parked Cadillac, causing the Cadillac to strike a wooden utility pole and plow through the wall of the daycare. About 40 children were inside the facility at the time of the crash: two children, who were reportedly napping in the room the Cadillac struck, were pinned under the car, and a third child was also taken from the scene by ambulance.
More than 20 emergency vehicles responded to the incident. A spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department told the Star that airbags and other extrication equipment were used to free one of the trapped children, and an off-duty police employee was able to rescue the second child with the assistance of several Good Samaritans.
All three children and the driver of the Range Rover were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The mother of one of the injured children (five-year-old Zyaire Davis) reported that her son had a fractured hip along with several scrapes and abrasions on his face. The three young victims have since been discharged from Children's Mercy Hospital, but no details about the elderly driver's medical condition have been released.
The collision also left the utility pole at a 45-degree angle: several power lines were ripped down, which left several residents in the vicinity without power for about eight hours after the crash. Once the daycare had been evacuated, emergency responders were forced to use beams of cut lumber to stabilize the facility. The building, which is located east of downtown Kansas City, has since been deemed dangerous. The owners of the building are reportedly working with city officials to make the necessary repairs and ensure the facility is safe and habitable once again.
Police continue to investigate what factors may have contributed to the accident. The driver told authorities that he believed another vehicle had pulled out in front of him, which caused him to lose control of his SUV and collide with the Cadillac. Police obtained a blood sample from the man, but the results of the test are not yet known. Depending on the results of the investigation, the driver could face multiple criminal charges.