A two-vehicle accident early Friday evening on Interstate 30 sent an 8-month-old girl hurtling 35 feet into a drainage ditch entrance beneath metal bars-but rescuers found her unharmed. However, another passenger was struck by a vehicle.
The accident, which happened shortly after 6:30 p.m. nearly a mile east of I-30's interchange with Interstate 49, happened when an eastbound 2014 McCleod Express Freightliner rig attempted to change lanes and struck an eastbound 2016 black Nissan Altima.
The rig's driver, Jimmy Eugene Booker, 55, of Clarendon, Ark., attempted to move from the inner lane to the outer lane, where the Altima was. On impact, the Altima skidded sideways ahead of the truck and veered to the left before careening into the median's guardrail system. The Altima came to a stop right side up, but facing west, according to a Texarkana, Ark., police accident report and map.
Both the impact with the truck and the subsequent impact with the guardrail apparently ejected the baby from the car's back window and hurled her 35 feet into a drainage ditch separating the east- and westbound traffic. The infant landed just beneath some metal drainage ditch entrance bars, according the accident report.
Arkansas-side police Cpl. Les Mun, who investigated the accident, wrote in his report that upon arriving at the scene, he could "hear several people screaming that they couldn't find the infant," at which point he radioed other officers, requesting aid in searching for the baby. Eventually, a bystanders assisting in the search said he could "hear what sounded like a baby near the middle of the median."
Police, fire department and civilian searchers found the infant lying near a drainage entrance under metal bars that served as a debris screen.
Arkansas-side fighters retrieved the baby and found her unharmed, but emergency medical personnel took her to Wadley Regional Medical Center to be checked for injuries.
A female driver and three female passengers were also in the Altima, and all were Hope, Ark., residents. A 15-year-old girl and two other female passengers, Justice Lawson, 17, and Jakesa Colson, 20, were taken to Wadley for possible injuries. The Altima's driver, Trina Johnson, 42, sustained "significant injuries"to her left side, according to the report. The accident's investigation revealed that, following the collision with the truck, she stepped out of the Altima into traffic and was hit by a passing sport utility vehicle, police said.
Police cited Booker with improper and unsafe lane changing.