NEWS

Girl struck by police vehicle in downtown Lansing

Ken Palmer, and Matthew Miller
Lansing

LANSING -- An 8-year-old East Lansing girl was treated at a hospital for minor injuries after being struck by a police vehicle in downtown Lansing as the Silver Bells celebration was beginning.

The girl was on the island in the traffic circle at Washington Square and Michigan Avenue when she darted into the path of a Lansing police vehicle around 5 p.m., Lansing police Public Information Officer Robert Merritt said.

The small sport-utility vehicle was moving at a very slow speed, and it wasn't clear whether the girl was hit by the vehicle or ran into it, Merritt said.

The girl was complaining of leg pain and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, he said.

The girl was treated and released at the hospital, Lansing police Chief Michael Yankowski said in a statement. She suffered contusions but no broken bones, he said.

The girl was with her family when the incident happened, police said.

A young girl was struck by a police cruiser in downtown Lansing shortly after 5 p.m.

Police initially said the girl was 5 years old.

Yellow police tape was up along the street to mark the route of the Electric Light Parade, which had not yet begun when the incident happened.

Tyler Hubert said he witnessed the crash. He said the police vehicle, a small SUV, seemed to be traveling "pretty fast".

It struck the girl and stopped with a wheel on her legs, he said. She lay underneath still holding what looked like a white teddy bear. The officer who had been driving got out of the car, saw that the girl was underneath and jumped back in to pull forward.

At that point, "her mom came screaming into the road and picked her up," Hubert said, while bystanders advised her not to move the girl. Several nearby police officers rushed to the scene, he said.

Hubert, who was with his family and friends, left to keep his own young children from seeing more and then returned without them to give a statement to police.

"I was shaken pretty bad," he said.

Lansing State Journal reporter Kevin Grasha contributed to this report.