Austin woman flees crash scene, leaves 4-year-old child behind to crawl out of rolled vehicle

A 35-year-old Austin woman is behind bars after she fled the scene of a collision, leaving her four-year-old son behind to crawl out of a rolled-over vehicle by himself. 

Yolanda Olvera has been charged with Failure to Stop and Render Aid and is in the Travis County Jail. 

According to the arrest affidavit, Austin police responded to a report of a vehicle rollover collision at the 3300 block of N IH35 northbound around 5:17 a.m. on August 22. 

Witnesses were giving updates to officers while they were en route to the scene, adding that the female driver of the rolled vehicle fled the scene and left her child inside the car. 

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Officers arrived at the scene to find a vehicle fully turned over onto its roof. The driver's side tire was ripped off, and the windows were broken out the affidavit states. Four witnesses told police they saw the suspected driver run away from the scene.

One witness said he observed the driver, a Hispanic female, crawl out of the driver's seat. She then took a car seat out of the back of the vehicle and attempted to take a child out from the backseat. She then fled the scene before getting the child out of the vehicle. The witness said the child had to crawl out of the car through broken glass and debris. 

A witness held the child in his arms before police arrived. 

Police could not locate the suspected driver at the scene. The child, referred to in the arrest affidavit as L.A., told officers his mother's name was Yolanda and gave a description of her that matched those of witnesses. L.A. also told police his mother appeared to be "drunk." The turned-over vehicle was also found to be registered under Yolanda's name.

L.A. was transported to a local hospital for minor injuries. 

According to the affidavit, police received a missing child report five hours after the collision. It was from a woman claiming her grandson had been missing from 6-8 a.m. and that his mother was involved in a car crash. The woman was identified as L.A.'s grandmother. 

Police detained Yolanda as she was leaving a hospital. The officers interviewed her, and she confirmed to them that she was driving from a friend's house who lived off of Oltorf Road around 5-6 a.m.

Yolanda was subsequently arrested, and charged with a felony. She remains in the Travis County Jail. 

TexasCrime and Public Safety