WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A West Palm Beach woman is under arrest after police said she hit an 11-year-old girl, dragging the child underneath her SUV and badly injuring her.
Cristina Morales Tecuapa, 45, was taken into custody Thursday for her role in the Jan. 30 crash at the intersection of Forest Hill Boulevard and Lake Avenue.
According to Tecuapa's arrest report, she was driving without a license and behind the wheel of a 2015 Chevy Suburban at approximately 4:45 p.m. with three passengers in her vehicle, her two daughters and her daughter-in-law.
Tecuapa, who does not speak English, told police she was on Lake Avenue, and when she made a left turn onto Forest Hill Boulevard on a green light, an 11-year-old West Palm Beach girl "ran out into the road," not in the crosswalk.
Tecuapa said "she tried to brake," but couldn't stop in time and struck the girl.
The child was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center as a trauma alert with a spleen laceration, right femur fracture, left rib fracture, life hip fracture, and multiple abrasions, police said. She had surgery on her right leg and was eventually released from the hospital a week later, but was still using a walker and "was still in pain" more than two months after the crash, the arrest report said.
According to the report, when a West Palm Beach police officer asked Tecuapa if she had a driver's license, she said she didn't have a U.S. or Florida license, but had an international license issued by Mexico that "may be expired."
A man working on his car in his driveway said "he heard screeching" and "saw a little girl under the vehicle and she was screaming." The witness added that "he saw the girl get dragged a little bit so he ran to her and dragged her out of the road."
At the hospital, the 11-year-old girl told a West Palm Beach police officer she was on her way to pick up her sister from Forest Hill Community High School when she was hit by Tecuapa's SUV.
The girl said "the driver told her she was sorry and that she could not see her," the arrest report said.
"She stated she was waiting on the sidewalk and waited for the walk sign to illuminate. Once she had the right of way she stated she walked across the street and was not in the crosswalk," the report added.
The girl said that "after she was hit she went under the vehicle and then a man pulled her out of the road," adding that "the driver got out and stated she was sorry and did not mean to hit her."
More than six months after the wreck, Tecuapa was arrested Thursday on a charge of driving without a license causing serious bodily injury. A defense attorney said it took so long to arrest Tecuapa because she was in the hospital with liver cancer.
In court Friday, a judge set Tecuapa's bond at $5,000 and ordered her to have no contact with family members of the victim and to not drive.
