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Witnesses Say Driver Didn’t Seem Intoxicated
The Kansas mother who drove her pickup truck onto a youth soccer field — leaving two people dead and 10 others injured — seemed to cooperate with cops and did not appear to be under the influence … at least according to eyewitnesses.
One man who was at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita on Saturday, watching his nephew play on an adjacent field, says he watched as the truck slowly came to a stop … with parents running onto the field and banging on the doors, telling the driver to get out.
He says the driver exited the car within 30 seconds to a minute after it stopped rolling, and she allegedly offered some explanation for the tragedy.
The witness we spoke to admits he was too far away to directly hear what the driver was saying, but he says word around the complex is she told the crowd she’d fallen asleep, accidentally hit the gas and panicked when the truck began moving.
We’re told the driver didn’t appear under the influence or to have suffered a medical emergency … because she had no problems standing after getting out of the vehicle. She also walked under her own power with the officer who took her into custody.
The witness says the driver didn’t try to flee the scene … instead staying by the truck until the cops arrived.
Another person who was there tells us she was about 30 feet from where the truck stopped. She agrees the driver took about 30 seconds or a minute to get out with her two kids … but adds she saw one of the driver’s children crying hysterically.
We’re told the driver was in shock, and asked, “What did I do?” She was also compliant, and to at least one witnesses, it seemed obvious this was not intentional and just a tragic accident.
Another witness says they noticed a sun visor on the dash of the truck, which might have been previously blocking the windshield.
As we reported … 6-year-old Cole Adrian and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both from McPherson, Kansas, died at the scene.
Ten others were injured, including five children — two 5-year-olds, two 8-year-old boys and a 9-year-old girl. Five adults between the ages of 28 and 68 were also hurt, though police say none of those injuries were critical.
The 34-year-old woman cops say was driving was questioned … then released pending toxicology results and mechanical testing of her truck.
She has not been charged with a crime yet.