MERIDEN -- A mother and her 3-year-old boy were struck and pinned beneath a car in Meriden while waiting for a school bus Friday afternoon.
A distraught witness told FOX 61 a woman was sitting with her child, who was playing with a toy dinosaur at the time, when two cars came flying up the road. One of the vehicles, a Toyota Camry, lost control and hit the mother and the child, trapping them underneath.
Residents in the area of 38 Summer Street quickly ran up to the vehicle and lifted it together to remove the mother. Fire department personnel arrived on scene and freed the child, who was pinned from his waist down.
The toddler was airlifted to Hartford Hospital while his mother was taken in an ambulance. On Saturday morning, Meriden police said the child remains in critical condition.
According to police, 25-year-old Jeidy Polanco of Meriden was driving the Camry. She was attempting to pass a slower-moving van and turn left onto Wood Street. The van was also attempting to turn left, and the two vehicles nearly collided. Polanco turned left at a high rate of speed, according to police, and lost control of her vehicle.
Polanco also had a young toddler riding in the backseat who was unharmed.
Witnesses told FOX61 the van struck a nearby fence before pulling away.
Investigators said Polanco has been "very cooperative," and has not been charged, although the crash is still being investigated. Anyone with any information about the crash is asked to contact Meriden Police at 203-630-6215. Officer Brendan Connolly is the lead investigator.