Toddler in critical condition after being run over by van


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STANSBURY PARK, Tooele County — A 22-month-old girl was in critical condition Tuesday following a tragic accident outside a daycare center.

A mother had just dropped off one of her three children at a day care near 200 E. Cherbourg Lane in Stansbury Park. She set her 22-month-old daughter in the driver's seat and put her 5-year-old in the van, too, while she talked to another mom who was standing behind her vehicle, said Tooele County Sheriff's Sgt. Shandy Lewis.

While they were talking, the 5-year-old apparently took the mother's keys and put them in the van's ignition, Lewis said. He didn't start the vehicle, but was able to put it into neutral so the van began rolling backward, she said.

The mother was concerned for another infant in a stroller located behind the van and rushed to get the stroller out of the way. Lewis said she didn't realize her 22-month-old had fallen out.


Things can happen in an instant. I would not leave children unattended in a vehicle.

–Tooele County Sheriff's Sgt. Shandy Lewis


Everyone behind the vehicle was uninjured, including the infant in a stroller that the mother was able to push out of the way, Lewis said. But the 22-month-old who was in the driver's seat rolled out of the door and was run over by the front of the van.

"We believe (the van) ran over her head and body," Lewis said.

She was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in critical condition, and Tuesday evening her condition was reported as being stable.

Lewis says this is a tragic accident and police will not be seeking charges against the mother. She says kids are smart and perceptive and can figure out how things work by watching their parents.

"Things can happen in an instant. I would not leave children unattended in a vehicle," Lewis cautioned.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Contributing: Tracie Snowder

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