Nearby cook, teenage boys jumped into action at Anderson day-care crash scene
A group of teenage boys and a cook at a nearby restaurant helped bring injured children to safety following Thursday's car crash into a day-care center in Anderson.
Boe Howsmon of Becca's Cafe described the scary scene after a woman crashed her Suzuki SUV through a brick wall at Great Adventures Christian Preschool and Daycare just before 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Nineteen children and two teachers were inside the building at the corner of Balls Ferry Road and Martha Street. Anderson Police Chief Jon Poletski said five of the injured children were taken to the hospital by their parents, while 14 other children and one adult were taken to hospitals by ambulances.
Two of the children were transferred to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
Anderson police officers, firefighters and medical personnel arrived at the preschool within 2 minutes, the Anderson Police Department said.
In that time between the crash and the arrival of first responders, Howsmon said he and a half-dozen teenagers leaped into action.
"I did what any dad would do," Howsmon said Friday while taking a break from the kitchen.
He said another cook, Eric Thayer, was sitting out back when he saw the car go into the building and heard a loud bang.
"I called 911; ran over there," Howsmon said. "There were some teenage boys over there and they were running inside."
He said the group of boys had been playing basketball at the teen center and were almost hit themselves by the SUV.
"We pulled the kids out (until) 911 showed up," Howsmon said. "The teenage boys over there, they really jumped in and started pulling kids out."
Howsmon said he wrote the names of the teens down to pass along to the center's owner.
"There was a little girl trapped under the car and another one in front of it," Howsmon said.
He said the two teachers also were helping with the children.
"Everybody was really disoriented. The kids were confused. They didn't know what was going on. I heard they were napping at the time so I think that might've saved their lives. They weren't standing in front of the wall," Howsmon said. "It was really scary."
He said everyone had to be careful because it looked like the damaged brick wall might fall over. He said the driver at one point started to back out, but the rescuers yelled at her to stop.
Howsmon said he and the teens let the first responders take over once they arrived on the scene.
Howsmon said one of the center's teachers came to Becca's on Friday to thank him and give him a hug.
The driver of the SUV was an Anderson woman, but police did not identify her. She was determined to be not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, police said. She was released after providing officers with a statement.
Anderson police hadn't released any more information as of Saturday afternoon following their Thursday evening press release.
"The investigation as to the cause of the collision and the moments preceding the collision is ongoing," Anderson police Sgt. Mike Hallagan said in the press release. "As additional information becomes available, additional press releases will follow."
Conditions of the two children sent to UC Davis Medical Center are not available.
The UC Davis Public Affairs Office on Friday said it doesn't provide patient conditions.
"A patient’s condition will not be given unless the patient has specifically requested their condition be shared," UC Davis said.
Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Cook, teenage boys jumped into action at Anderson day-care crash scene
