Dateline: April 7, 2005

Toddler drives van into elementary school

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A toddler crashed his mother’s van into the side of the Clarendon Elementary School building Monday morning.

One witness reported seeing the youngster behind the wheel as he veered across Fifth Street from Linda Judd’s daycare, jumped the curb, missed a house, and ran into the wall of a second grade classroom.

The witness said she thought she was seeing an elderly citizen who was drifting off the road but was surprised to realize it was just a little kid. She stopped her own vehicle and rushed to the scene to find the boy very pale and gripping the steering wheel.

Donley County Chief Deputy Randy Bond said the mother, Andrea Shelly, was taking her kids into the daycare when apparently the youngster knocked the car into gear and it rolled off. Bond said the woman had left the scene by the time he got there. She was later cited for leaving the scene of an accident.

Shelly couldn’t be reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, but co-workers of hers said the boy was unharmed, and they think the boy is about two or three. Bond said the boy was at most four years old.

School Superintendent Monty Hysinger said the incident startled the teacher, aide, and students who were in the room but caused no damage to the building other than some scuffed bricks.

“Fortunately no one was hurt,” Hysinger said. “This is just a good reason for kids to be strapped into safety seats.”