GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Video shows the moments an out-of-control SUV crashed through a wall of a Gainesville apartment complex, seriously injuring an 8-year-old girl inside.
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Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in Gainesville Thursday, where police said 19-year-old Erickson Mondesir lost control of his car and crashed it into the building at the Lenox Park Apartments on Tuesday afternoon.
Video shot by a neighbor showed the moments after the SUV crashed with the child still inside.
“The next thing you know, we see the mother of the child screaming and hollering, and the rest of the family members, bringing the kid out. Her leg was broken,” the neighbor said. “The mother was so traumatized, she didn’t want to talk at all.”
The neighbor, who asked not to use his name, said he heard a loud screeching noise and then a crashing sound.
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“We came and ran outside and we see the whole SUV ran into the apartment complex,” he said.
Lt. Justin Martin with the Gainesville Police said that’s when Mondesir took off.
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“He tried to get the vehicle out of the apartment, first, to remove it from the scene. When that didn’t work, he left on foot,” Mondesir said.
The neighbor said he and his friends ran after Mondesir.
“He ran through the back, and went through the woods. And me and a couple of my friends ran after him,” he said.
The group showed police where Mondesir was and they were able to take him into custody.
Police concluded that the crash was accidental. The driver possibly hit the gas pedal when he meant to step on the break.
But they said it’s inexcusable not to stay and check on the people living in the apartment.
The child was airlifted to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospital. Her condition and identity have not been released. Mondesir was charged with hit and run with serious injury.
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