BILLERICA, Mass. — A toddler was run over by an SUV that crashed through a Billerica daycare early Thursday night.
Neighbors who witnessed the crash and ran to help the four children and two adults inside A Brighter Rainbow daycare on Boston Road said the little boy had a gash on his head and was crying. Police said the boy was taken to Lowell General Hospital for injuries that are not life-threatening.
The driver, a 38-year-old woman from Billerica, was treated for minor injuries at Lahey Clinic.
"That car was airborne, went right through the side of the building like nothing," said Kathy Jones, who lives across the street. “Glass was flying, dust. Kids, people were screaming, and we just freaked out."
Kathy and her daughter Kristine Jones ran across the street and tried to help.
“I ran over there and tried to get in, but the car was just jammed against the door. So everyone started breaking the windows, going through the back,” Kristine Jones said. "My mother put a brick through the window."
Police say the incident started when the driver smashed into parked cars at a nearby plaza around 5:30 p.m., then careened down the street, striking a fence and finally barreling through the side of the daycare.
Police told FOX25 they do not believe alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash, nor was speed. A medical condition is possible, but the investigation is ongoing.
Two other children were treated at the scene and quickly released to their parents' care.
Four more children and two adults had been outside when the crash occurred.
"The kids apparently were playing in the back yard, because it was a nice day," Kathy Jones said. "Had it been raining, they probably all would've been there."
Other witnesses called it a miracle that no one was badly hurt.
The SUV was towed from the daycare just before 7 p.m., and crews worked into the night to board up the building.
Cox Media Group
