'Miracle' Survival: Mother, Toddler Escape Death When Hit By Car Following Mom's Alleged DUI Crash In Orinda
ORINDA (CBS SF) -- A 2-year-old girl and her mother were recovering from what authorities are describing as their miraculous survival of a hit-and-run crash on state Highway 24 in Orinda on Monday night.
The woman, 24-year-old Shuaniya Rogers of Antioch, was apparently driving drunk with her daughter when she crashed her minivan into the center median on eastbound Highway 24 near St. Stephens Drive, California Highway Patrol Officer John Fransen said.
Fransen said Rogers took her daughter out of the car and was crossing the highway on foot when an oncoming Mercedes-Benz sedan struck them and fled the scene.
The two were somehow able to get over to the roadway's right-hand shoulder, where CHP officers found them a short time later while responding to a report of the minivan crash around 9:50 p.m. Monday, the spokesman said.
Officers arriving on the scene found the minivan empty but heard the 2-year-old girl's cries from the roadway shoulder and rushed to render aid to the toddler and her mother.
Fransen said medical providers at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland reported that the first aid performed by Officers Nate Johnson and Randy Vigus helped them to save the girl's foot.
Both the child and her mother remained in the hospital Wednesday and werre expected to recover.
"It's a miracle they both survived being an impact on the freeway," Fransen said. "Typically for people who get struck on the freeway, it's a different story," he said.
The spokesman said the CHP never advises any motorist to cross a freeway on foot after being involved in a crash.
"Call 911 and let us come out there and help you," he said.
Rogers, who officers believe was intoxicated at the time of the crash, is expected to be arrested on suspicion of DUI and child endangerment.
The driver of the hit-and-run suspect vehicle, described only as a Mercedes sedan with passenger-side damage, remains at large.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the CHP's Contra Costa area office at (925) 646-4980.
