HAVERHILL, Mass — A nine-year-old Haverhill boy who was struck by a pick-up truck moments after getting off his school bus Thursday is in critical but stable condition, while the accused drunk driver remains in jail.
The boy, whose family members identified him as Yonis Rodriquez, a student at Pentucket Lake Elementary School, is in Children’s Hospital in Boston after being taken by MedFlight from the scene.
Prosecutors say Tiffany Zembower, 44, of Haverhill, was driving drunk with empty nips in her Toyota Tacoma when witnesses say she sped down Main Street and did not stop for the extended, flashing stop sign on the bus before hitting the boy.
After the impact, the driver stopped, and according to neighbor John Tyler, she attempted CPR on the child.
“This lady got down, started giving the child CPR, mouth-to-mouth, pressing,” Tyler said. “The police came and pulled her off, and she’s screaming things like, ‘I brought him back to life.’”
Tyler told Boston 25 News the boy was unresponsive but said to be breathing.
“That was the worst thing I’ve seen,” Tyler said. “I don’t want to see a child like that ever again.”
Yonis’s 18-year-old sister Stephanie Bonilla said her little brother has bleeding on his brain but she is hopeful he will recover and return home.
Bonilla was home when the incident happened. Her younger sister told her someone had been hit by a truck, but when her brother didn’t return home, she went outside to find him severely injured and being treated by first responders.
“I see them lift him up on the stretcher, and I guess I recognized his head, and I ran over, and I said, ‘That’s my little brother,’” Bonilla said.
Zembower was arrested Thursday night and arraigned Friday on several charges including operating under the influence of liquor – second offense, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and failure to stop for a school bus.
Prosecutors said Zembower lied to investigators at the scene, initially saying her fiancé had been driving the truck before changing her story to say she had been driving but the boy had appeared out of nowhere.
Zembower allegedly failed field sobriety tests and had red, glassy eyes.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Zembower’s behalf Friday, and she was held on $25,000 bail.
Zembower has received several driving citations over the years, including one in 2014 for failing to stop for a school bus.
“I’m a little upset she pleaded not guilty,” Bonilla said, “because you know what you did, you were there, you witnessed it, you did it.”
As Yonis’s sisters pray for the recovery of a little boy they call funny, kind and respectful, they are trying to stay strong and positive for him.
“I am just trying to be happy,” Bonilla said. “So, when he comes home, it’s not like he comes home to a sad environment; he comes home to a happy, loving home.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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