This accident happened on Broadway in Menands around nine this morning. Police say a mother and her kids were waiting for the bus when the older child darted into traffic. The mother ran after and all three were hit by a passing Jeep. Police say they were taken to Albany Med with serious injuries, but no update on their condition is available yet.
A section of Broadway in Menands, near the Village One Apartments, was closed for more than five hours today as police reconstructed and investigated this mornings accident.
"I heard this bang and I came running out and this kid was laying down in the road underneath the car," said Muhammad Khan, a witness. His gas station is across the street from the scene. He called 911.
"His head was bleeding, mouth, shoulder, he was just crying," he said.
Also crying, witnesses say, was a two month old baby girl laying on the ground with their 23-year-old mother Elonia Edwards.
"It was really bad I couldn't even stand and watch that kid the way he was," said Khan.
Police say that all three were standing in a nearby bus shelter when the two-year-old boy ran toward the street. His mom, carrying the baby strapped in front of her, ran after.
"Her maternal instinct was grab my child and she grabbed the child and all three were struck," said Lt. Ken Pero, with the Colonie Police Department.
"I had seen the boy before, he's been with his mother here before at my store. I couldn't believe it," said Khan.
An employee at the Schuyler Inn says the family had lived at that shelter for a few weeks as it looked for a new home. Khan and another witness off camera say that Edwards was an attentive mother and that this stretch of road is a problem.
"This road is dangerous, very dangerous, extremely dangerous. If they don't do something about the traffic they will have worse accidents than this," said Khan.
Police say speed and alcohol were not factors in this crash and that the driver of the Jeep will likely not face charges. The accident is still under investigation.
