Speaker 1: (00:00)
New details out of a scary situation in Daytona Beach. Police say five people were taken to a hospital after a driver smashed through a beach access toll booth and crashed into the water, hitting a five year old child. Reporter Molly Reed spoke with both families today about this incident.
Molly Reed: (00:17)
Well it might be back to normal operations here today at the ramp with a new toll booth in place, but for the family of the five year old who was hit by the car yesterday, they’re still in the hospital here hoping they can leave Daytona Beach today and head home.
Hugo Alamos: (00:30)
I just heard, “Pow,” like a bomb.
Molly Reed: (00:32)
But when Hugo Alamos looked at where the sound came from, he saw a car flying down the sand directly towards his kids in the water.
Hugo Alamos: (00:40)
It was so fast and people going on the sides. I didn’t see nobody get hurt. The only thing I see my kid was there. He didn’t move.
Molly Reed: (00:50)
Beach officials say Alamo’s five year old son, David, took a direct hit, briefly pushing him under the car in the waves.
Hugo Alamos: (00:57)
I saw him coming up again, but he was crying, and I saw he got a big cut here in the chest.
Molly Reed: (01:07)
Hugo says his family, who was visiting from Nashville, had only been at the beach about 15 minutes when the crash happened Sunday afternoon. Beach patrol says the driver, 28 year old Christian Rivera Rosado from Massachusetts, had some sort of medical emergency after crossing the International Speedway Bridge.
Speaker 4: (01:23)
He went through the beach access ramp, hitting the gate and the tollbooth. Fortunately, nobody was in the tollbooth at the time.
Molly Reed: (01:32)
Deputy Chief, Tammy Malford, says he crashed into the ocean. Good samaritans rushed into push the car back on the beach and get him, his fiance, Yashida, and her two children out of the car.
Speaker 5: (01:42)
My niece, Yashida, who was the passenger, tried to take the wheel and swivel as much as she could to try to stop the car.
Molly Reed: (01:51)
Yashida’s aunt tells News 6 one of the children was treated for a concussion but has since been cleared.
Speaker 5: (01:57)
The driver’s still being tested.
Speaker 1: (02:02)
That was Molly Reed reporting. Beach safety officers say regardless of the medical episode, the driver is facing a careless driving citation due to the damages and injuries caused to the child.