SHEFFIELD TWP. — A Lorain woman suspected of striking two boys with her car and then fleeing the scene faces charges.
Maxine Whitfield was charged Thursday with vehicular assault, leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence over a June 13 incident, according to Trooper David Dylag of the Ohio Highway Patrol’s Elyria post.
Dylag said Whitfield’s 1997 Toyota Corolla was involved in the accident when police seized it last week.
Matthew Hollingsworth, 17, was walking northbound on Clifton Avenue near 36th Street carrying his brother, Charles Harrington, 4, on his shoulders when they were struck, Dylag said. A neighbor who heard a bang and saw the boys fall called police, thinking they had been shot.
Charles needed stitches for a gash on his forehead while Hollingsworth had less-serious cuts on his head. The brothers were treated and released from Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.
Dylag said an anonymous phone tip led police to Whitfield, who is facing unrelated charges of drunken driving and making in improper turn from a June 1 incident.
Whitfield has convictions for driving without a license, a stop -ign violation and driving with unlit license plate lights.
Dylag said Whitfield told him she left because she was scared and didn’t know what to do.
“People like to say that when they leave the scene of an accident,” he said. “If she had just stayed at the scene, none of these charges would’ve been filed.”
Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.
Recent Comments