LEWISTON – A 5-year-old girl lost three teeth Wednesday when she collided with a passing car on Tall Pines Drive.
Police said Minaya Abu also suffered scrapes and bruises in the accident that led to a short skirmish between the girl’s mother and the woman driving the car.
The 3:30 p.m. incident brought police, fire and rescue crews to a section of River Valley Apartments as the two women squared off and Abu lay bleeding in the roadway. The girl was treated for her injuries and later released from the hospital.
“Her lip is split open and her teeth are gone,” said 23-year-old Jenna Clark, who witnessed the accident. “It was horrible.”
Police said 24-year-old Beth Stewart was driving through the area near her Strawberry Avenue home when the girl was struck. More than a dozen witnesses told police Stewart was not driving fast in her Volvo station wagon and that Abu ran into the side of the car.
After the collision, Abu’s mother, Lakeesha Holloman, ran down the street to the scene of the crash and confronted Stewart, witnesses said. Police arrived moments later. There they found a group of people separating the two women and helping the injured girl.
Abu was taken inside an apartment to be examined by paramedics. Her mother took the girl to a hospital soon after.
Police said they talked with approximately 20 witnesses to the crash as they began an investigation. Lewiston police crisis intervention officer Laurie Cyr-Martel spoke with Holloman and others as the confrontation was defused. No charges were filed in the incident.
Witnesses said Abu was playing with friends at the side of the road shortly before she was struck. They also said more kids have been outside lately as the weather has been getting warmer.
Clark, who was visiting friends at River Valley to celebrate her birthday, said although police believe Stewart was not speeding at the time of the accident, motorists driving through the apartment complex often present peril for children playing nearby.
“Someone needs to put it up in big, blinking letters,” Clark said. “People need to slow down.”
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