WGNO

Exclusive: Children ran over and left injured after truck drives into home and flees scene

ABBEVILLE, La., (KLFY) — A mother is reliving the moments a truck ran over her child and two of his friends, drove into her home, and then fled the scene.

Mauren Romero said it was like a tornado passing through when she heard a loud bang. The sound was then followed by the screams of the three children who were playing on the front porch of their Abbeville home.

“Trapped,” Romero said, “The kids were trapped right here, the kids flew. One was in the tree, one was stuck here, and one was right in the middle,” she said showing the damage left behind from the hit and run car crash.

Video surveillance from a local business shows the suspect’s truck running a red light moments after driving into the home.

https://www.klfy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/06/20210611-JLL-CAR-AX.mp4
The above video appears to be recorded at double the normal speed as it was being replayed. We have slowed it to the normal speed, which is shown in the second clip, and reduced it to half of the normal speed shown in the third clip.

“She just put it in reverse and hightailed it out like nothing happened,” Fenery Walker said.

The Abbeville Police Department issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, identified as Nicole Frederick Rice, today.

Romero said the children had minor cuts, bruises and scrapes, but she said it could have ended much worse.

“We thank God our kids are okay, but this person doesn’t have any heart. How could you leave the scene not knowing if these kids were okay?,” Romero said.

Both Walker and Romero said they’re thankful nobody was killed during this crash.

“We can replace the car, we can replace the porch, but we cannot replace these kids,” Romero said. “Any mother would feel the type of feeling I’m feeling. I could be a mother, with two other mothers planning for a funeral.”