A 7-year old boy in Alabama had been reprimanded on his school bus, leaving his mom no choice, but to pick him up at the behest of school officials, then made him get out of the car and walk so she could run him over without him knowing.
Police Chief Michael Abercrombie said, “The child sustained relatively minor injuries under the sad circumstances. It was a miracle that he wasn’t hurt worse than he was. God was definitely watching over that child that day.”
Parking just outside the school after picking the boy up, the mother instructed her son to get out and get himself the rest of the way home around 3:30 p.m. on February 8th.
According to Abercrombie, the family lived eight blocks away from the school and she drove alongside the child with her flashers on.
When the child reached for the door handle in an attempt to get back inside the car, his mother (knowing what she was doing or not is yet to be determined) pushed on the gas.
The momentum yanked the child under the car. The mother then proceeded to run over the child’s back and grazed the side of his head.
“The child fortunately had no broken bones or internal injuries. He is being treated at UAB Hospital in Birmingham for some abrasions,” Abercrombie further explained.
The mother, a 27-year-old woman, whose name was identified as Sarai Rachel James, has been charged with aggravated child abuse of a family member.
Aggravated child abuse is a Class B felony, according to Alabama state code. If convicted, the charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.
The mother, who was booked into the county jail shortly before midnight on Feb. 8th was released on bond early on the morning of Feb. 11th. The Boaz Police Department recorded her bail as $50,000.
A 53-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the car at the time of the incident, was also arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, which is a misdemeanor, and subsequently released on a $500 bond.
Abercrombie said, “The older woman was charged because she at no time intervened to derail the situation, when the mother told the child to get outside and walk home.”
The older woman’s misdemeanor case will go through the Boaz Municipal Court, due to the comparatively minor nature of the crime.
The mother has been barred from having contact with her son and the Department of Human Resources has taken custody of the little boy.
