Police in Ohio are reportedly holding a 55-year-old man who is suspected of seriously hurting a 9-year-old girl when he hit her with his Hummer SUV while she was riding across a crosswalk, dragging her for several blocks, and then fleeing the scene. The footage was recently made public via police body cameras.
The youngster lived through the incident, but according to the authorities, she had “extensive trauma,” with part of her left leg “missing below the knee” when they initially arrived.
After being placed under arrest last month, Jeffrey Jay Atkinson was charged with two charges of vehicular assault, one count each of endangering the welfare of a child, failing to stop following an accident, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
A civilian alerted a Dayton Police Department officer to a car that they saw driving on Keowee Street that was “dragging a girl under it” on July 22, according to a news release from the Dayton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The girl’s mother informed the emergency operator that her daughter was riding her bike when she was struck by a vehicle and “became caught in the wheels.” Within minutes, police said they received a barrage of 911 calls about the identical scenario.
“The vehicle, a Hummer, kept going, dragging her daughter with it,” according to the release. “The mother didn’t know where her daughter was.”
About 200 miles southwest of Cleveland, Ohio, at the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Clover Street, the police spotted the casualty and phoned for medical assistance.
According to the prosecutors, “Officers on scene with the girl administered tourniquets to the girl’s legs, as they both had extensive trauma — the lower portion of her left leg, including her foot, was missing below the knee, and her right leg had significant injury as well.”
One of the people who dialed 911 informed the dispatcher that he was following the motorist and had seen the incident. About 3.5 miles from the victim’s location, at the Cowboy Lido Bike Stop Bar in the 4000 block of Springfield Street, the suspect’s car was promptly found.
When the suspected driver—later revealed to be Atkinson—left the building, numerous witnesses recognized him right once. Atkinson acknowledged he was “too drunk to pass” when officers tried to administer a field sobriety test, according to the prosecution.
According to the bodycam footage, Atkinson is asked by the police if he is the owner of the Hummer that is parked in the lot as he leaves the bar with his hands raised. He’s got on a black T-shirt with the words “Support Your Local Outlaws” and an image of a skeleton brandishing a gun.
“Yes,” he answers, seeming unsteady as he approaches the cops and at one time grabbing the back of a chair to keep himself upright.
The words “I hope you go to jail for a long time, buddy” are audible from a passerby. Atkinson’s “judgment day is coming,” shouts another.
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When Atkinson seems to say, “I’m sorry,” the onlookers hurl insulting remarks at him for injuring a child and continuing without stopping.
Atkinson claims it is pointless for the police to test him when they inform him they will run a number of tests to determine whether he is impaired.
He answers, “Oh f— that, I’m already impaired.” He continues, “I already know that.” Atkinson consents to take the tests and provides a humorous justification for his potential low performance.
“No, wait. Before I do this, I got in a serious motorcycle accident. I got hit head-on by a drunk driver and I’ve got metal all the way up my leg,” He points to his left leg and adds “I’ve got metal in this (right) leg. I’ve got metal in this (left) arm.”
The video cuts to Atkinson telling the officer he “can’t focus” and then says, “You know what? I’m intoxicated, f— it. I’ll own up to it. I’m a bar owner. After that, he was placed in the back of a patrol car and sent to the Montgomery County Jail, where he is being held on a $500,000 bond, by the police.
