4-year-old killed when teen driver plows through preschool playground, Florida cops say

A 4-year-old was killed and a 5-year-old was hurt when a teen driver plowed through children on a preschool playground, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old remains hospitalized with serious injuries, highway patrol officials said in a report.

Identities of the two preschoolers have not been released.

Investigators say the crash happened around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the Imagination Station Learning Center Preschool in Arcadia, about 90 miles southeast of Tampa.

An 18-year-old female from Tampa was driving on East Magnolia Street when her Jeep Cherokee ran off the road, jumped the curb, crossed the sidewalk and began colliding with a series of signs and fence posts, officials wrote in the report.

The vehicle then ran through the school’s playground, colliding with equipment and striking the two girls, troopers said. It came to a stop after hitting a tree on the playground, officials said.

The 4-year-old was rushed to Gulf Coast Medical Center in critical condition and later died. The 5-year-old was taken to DeSoto Memorial Hospital in Arcadia and remains there in serious condition, officials said.

Troopers charged the teen driver with not having a valid driver’s license, officials said. She was also hospitalized for minor injuries and released, officials said.

Details of what caused the crash were not released.

Imagination Station Learning Center is a child care center, day care and preschool, according to its Facebook page. The center has a capacity of 75 children and it was less than an hour from closing for the day when the crash occurred, according to Childcarecenter.us.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 12:47 PM with the headline "4-year-old killed when teen driver plows through preschool playground, Florida cops say."