LAS VEGAS, Nevada - January 7, 2011 - The mother of a 13-year-old accident victim lashed out at Las Vegas Metro police on Wednesday, accusing officers of being insensitive when they issued her daughter, who had just been hit by a car, a jaywalking ticket in the hospital.
“How cold could you really be?” asked Kellie Obong, a cab driver whose daughter, Takara, has been in a medically induced coma since the accident on Tuesday afternoon near Durango Drive and Rochelle Avenue.
Police said the girl wasn’t in a crosswalk.
“That was not the time or place to come and hand me a jaywalking ticket for my child,” Obong argued.
Obong said her daughter was trying to keep up with her friends as they crossed the street, when she was hit by the oncoming car.
“She hit the windshield, flipped three times in the air and from the point of impact to where her body was, Metro told me she was 125 feet [away],” said Obong.
Takara Obong was hit by a car the same day Metro released a report that showed the number of accidents involving pedestrians dropped from 619 in 2009 to 613 in 2010.
However, the number of fatal pedestrian accidents increased from 22 to 29, police said.
