8 Year Old Child Hit By Car

UPDATED 9:00 PM - See End of Article For Latest Information:

SOUTH YARMOUTH At about 11:30 AM Police and Fire Units responded to a report of a child hit by a car on Route 28 near Bass River Sports World.

Upon arrival at the scene, HyannisNews found about a half dozen Yarmouth Police Department cruisers at the scene. Police Chief Peter Carnes and Deputy Chief Mike Almonte were there as were County Identification Officers from Barnstable County Sheriff's Office. Police tape and traffic cones were put up around a white Pontiac Sunbird which was parked just inside the entrance to 928 Route 28 next to Bass River Sports World.

HyannisNews spoke briefly to Yarmouth Police Chief Peter Carnes who told us that a woman was crossing Route 28 pushing a baby stroller on a marked crosswalk when the white Sunbird struck one of the 3 other children crossing the street with her. The baby in the stroller was not hit as originally reported. The child who was hit was an 8 year old, believed to be a girl and the child was transported to the Cape Cod Hospital. The extent of the child's injuries or the condition was still unknown at 2:00 PM.

HyannisNews talked to other persons at the scene and we were told that the woman was crossing the street was on the crosswalk, pushing the baby stroller. She also had two or three other children walking behind her. She allegedly put up her hand asking the elderly driver of the white Sunbird to stop which according to the witness, the Sunbird did stop.

The woman pushing the stroller reportedly then continued across the street when the Sunbird apparently started driving forward again and stuck one of the children. Reports at the scene were that the driver of the car was elderly perhaps in her eighties and was believed to be a Yarmouth resident. 

HyannisNews was told by a bystander at he scene that newly installed security cameras at Bass River Liquors recorded the incident. A Yarmouth Police Officer did confirm that there was a video of the area from the Liquor Store but it was not known to him if the camera actually caught the accident on tape but that information would likely become available in a formal press release later.  

The identity of the driver of the Sunbird has not yet been released. Yarmouth Police are still investigating the accident.  

Please check back soon for additional updates.

9:00 PM UPDATE

At 8:50 PM - HyannisNews spoke to Yarmouth Police Sergeant Christopher McEachern by phone. He provided the following new information from an official Yarmouth Police Department Press Release. Two persons were injured in this morning's accident and both were transported to Cape Cod Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

One of the injured was the woman reported as crossing the street with the children. She was identified as Ann Marie Jacobson of Middleboro, MA. The other was one of the children who was with her but the child was not named. The relationship between the woman and the child was not included in the release.

The driver of the car who struck the pedestrians was identified by police as  Joan Kanis of Yarmouth. She was not injured in the accident. Kanis was cited by police for Operating to Endanger and Failure to Yield to Pedestrians in a crosswalk.

From observations at the scene, it would appear that Kanis was operating in a westerly direction on Route 28. HyannisNews observed that although the paint on the crosswalk was somewhat tire worn there was a yellow crosswalk sign facing in the direction of the westbound traffic on Route 28 just before the crosswalk.

The accident remains under investigation by Yarmouth Police Patrol Officers Kal Boghdan and Brian Niezgoda.