Police Announce Arrest in Hit-and-Run of 7-Year-Old Girl in Santa Rosa

Police Announce Arrest in Hit-and-Run of 7-Year-Old Girl in Santa Rosa
Representative image. (Pixabay)
Venus Upadhayaya
2/20/2019
Updated:
2/20/2019

Santa Rosa Police announced an arrest on Feb. 19, in a hit-and-run case involving a child.

A 7-year-old girl named Hazelann was running near her home across Louis Krohn Drive with her 9-year-old brother, Damiion Conzet when the crash took place on Saturday evening, according to ABC13.

Surveillance video from a neighbor’s home shows 29-year-old Dominick Weaver in a black Sedan hitting Hazelann, throwing her almost ten feet into the air before fleeing the scene.

The child received minor injuries in the crash and landed in the street after being hit, screamed, and then ran away with her brother and friend.

Conzet was scared by watching her sister get hit and thrown into the air. “I felt like I was about to pass out,” he told ABC.

Police received a call about the incidence at 5:14 p.m. and transported Hazelann to the hospital.

The police department in a release that it had declared a reward of $2,500 by the Sonoma County Alliance “Take Back Our Community Program” to anyone who provides information that leads to arrest and conviction of the suspect.

Public Provides Multiple Tips to Police

The public provided multiple tips to the SRPD Traffic Division and the investigations team arrested Weaver on Tuesday at about 3:30 p.m.

“One of the tips involved surveillance video of Weaver attempting to hide the vehicle after the collision occurred. Traffic Officers conducted several days of follow-up that involved review of Weaver’s social media posts, in which he was seen driving the vehicle involved in the collision, a 2004, black BMW 645ci,” said the police in an updated release.

Following the execution of a search warrant at Weaver’s residence on Broadmoor Street on Tuesday in Santa Rosa, the investigators found him hiding in an “upstairs bedroom.”

On being interviewed by the police, Weaver admitted to hitting the child and fleeing the scene. According to the press release, his BMW was recovered from his house.

Police said he was arrested for Felony Hit and Run and three outstanding warrants for his arrest.

“The Santa Rosa Police Department would like to thank the public for sending us tips involving this case that ultimately led to the suspect’s arrest,” the police said.

Leading Cause of Death for Children

Road fatalities are a leading cause of death for children worldwide. (Pixabay)
Road fatalities are a leading cause of death for children worldwide. (Pixabay)
Over 1,600 children below 15 years of age die in road crashes in the United States every year, according to the Association for Safe International Road Travel.

Fatalities in cases of children being hit by cars are higher because children are likely to pay less attention to roads and their smaller bodies are more prone to fatal injuries.

Getting hit by a car is the third leading cause of death for children worldwide in the age group of 5 to 9 years, according to PsychologicalScience.org

Psychological scientist John Wann and his colleagues at the University of London conducted experiments to study the perceptual skills of children on roads in comparison to those of adults. They found that children’s ability to perceive a speeding car on road doesn’t match that of adults.

“Paradoxically, faster-moving cars appear to loom less than slow-moving cars, creating a dangerous illusion that speedy cars are not approaching,” the report said.

When the speed exceeds 25 miles per mile, children are more likely to be hit. “Not only do speedy drivers need more reaction time, now it appears that young pedestrians simply can’t see the cars coming in the first place. It can be a deadly combination,” the report said.

Venus Upadhayaya reports on wide range of issues. Her area of expertise is in Indian and South Asian geopolitics. She has reported from the very volatile India-Pakistan border and has contributed to mainstream print media in India for about a decade. Community media, sustainable development, and leadership remain her key areas of interest.
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