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Background: The intersection of East Ramsey and South Swift avenues in Cudahy, Wisconsin, where the victim was hit (WTMJ/YouTube). Inset: Darlene Adam (Milwaukee County Sheriff”s Office).
An elderly Wisconsin resident, aged 89, faces allegations of hitting a 9-year-old girl on her way to school and subsequently fleeing the scene.
Identified as Darlene Adam, she is charged with hit-and-run resulting in injury, as detailed in a criminal complaint accessed by Law&Crime.
It was before 8 a.m. on Oct. 28, a Tuesday, and Lenci Lambert was on her way to school, as local NBC affiliate WTMJ reported. At a crosswalk at the intersection of East Ramsey and South Swift avenues in Cudahy, a Milwaukee suburb, a crossing guard raised his stop sign.
According to the complaint, the incident occurred as the child, guided by a crossing guard in a “high-visibility vest,” attempted to cross the street. A silver sedan, reportedly traveling without reducing speed, struck the young girl and continued on without stopping.
Upon arrival, police officers discovered the girl lying on the road, surrounded by concerned bystanders. After speaking with the crossing guard, they embarked on a search for surveillance video capturing the crash. Their efforts paid off when a nearby hospital provided footage showing a silver Ford Focus in the parking lot.
The vehicle displayed “fresh damage to the front passenger side, a cracked windshield, and what appeared to be a handprint on the glass.” When investigators approached Adam, she recalled an incident, suggesting she thought a rock had hit her car or she had collided with a construction barrel.
Adam did not check her vehicle for damage until she got to the hospital, where she recognized damage that was not previously there, according to the complaint. The suspect added that she did not know how fast she was going and she did not remember seeing a crossing guard in the intersection.
Investigators spoke with another witness, who said they observed “a cup and a shoe fly up in the air” and then a sedan driving away. An additional witness said the car “did not brake” before hitting the girl.
Lenci, who has since turned 10, was brought to a children’s hospital. Law enforcement officers met with her as part of their investigation, finding her with “bandages on her arms and legs” and “abrasions and bruising” to her left cheek, left eye, and forehead.
If Adam is convicted of the crime, she could be placed in jail for up to nine months and fined up to $10,000. She is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 18, per WTMJ.
Adam told Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate WISN that it was an accident and she never saw the girl.
“I’m giving up my license,” she added.