Watch: Good Samaritans, police help great-grandmother, child trapped under car in Tampa parking lot
TAMPA, Fla. - An 80-year-old woman and her great-granddaughter were returning from a grocery store when a driver backed out of a parking spot in a Tampa apartment complex and reversed over them, police said. With the help of neighbors, a hydraulic jack, and first responders, they were pulled from underneath the vehicle. It was all captured on body camera.
It all happened Sunday, shortly after 1:30 p.m. at the Arbor Ponds Apartment Complex located at 2901 North Dale Mabry Highway. When officers arrived, the great-grandmother and the 3-year-old girl were pinned beneath a 2006 Toyota Corolla.
According to police, the 23-year-old driver told them he was backing out of the vehicle and didn't see the elderly woman pushing her great-grandchild in a stroller.
"The driver said he felt a bump, but assumed it was a large storm drain located behind his car and attempted to pull forward," according to a news release from the police department. "When the vehicle did not move, he became aware that he had struck someone."
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When the officer arrives, he tries to speak to the elderly woman, but heard no response. When they began pulling the stroller, the child started crying.
A group of people living at Arbor Ponds used a hydraulic jack to raise the car slightly from the ground, allowing one of the officers to free the great-grandmother and child.
"Baby girl, come here," one of the first responders was heard saying. A knife was used to break the stroller straps.
"Both are breathing," the officer stated.
The woman and child were taken to a nearby hospital. The 80-year-old woman is in critical condition as of Tuesday morning, while the child is expected to be OK.
Investigators said impairment is not believed to be a factor in the crash. Police said the driver remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation.
Charges are not expected.