A kindergartner remained at the hospital Friday afternoon in stable condition after being hit by an SUV in a crosswalk in front of a Maumelle elementary school, authorities said.
Maumelle Police Department Capt. Jim Hansard said it happened about 7:30 a.m. in a crosswalk in front of Pine Forest Elementary School, which is located on Pine Forest Drive near Maumelle Boulevard.
The vehicle's driver, identified by police as 35-year-old Chasity Phillips of Maumelle, was arrested on a charge of driving on a suspended driver's license for a previous DWI case, Hansard said.
Testing showed that Phillips was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of Friday's accident, he said.
Officials said the child is a kindergartner who is 6 years old.
The child remained at Arkansas Children's Hospital as of about 3:30 p.m. Friday, according to Deborah Roush, a spokesman for the Pulaski County Special School District.
Hansard said the boy was conscious at the scene but seriously hurt.
"The young man was Med-flighted" to Arkansas Children's Hospital, Hansard said. "We're hoping for the best. But it was significant."
Hansard said a security officer who was escorting students through the crosswalk was also hit, though his injuries were not believed to be serious.
Roush said the district superintendent, the school principal and others visited the hospital. She said the decision to fly the child there was because of "the nature of the injuries and the traffic situation."
Roush described Phillips as the parent of a child at the school.
Police initially had said Phillips was only cited. He noted that the charge she was arrested on Friday did not relate to the accident and that other charges "will be coming forthwith."
"We are evaluating today and in the near future all this evidence, witness statements and all the facts of the case," he said. "We will confer with our city attorney and have actual charges on the accident itself on a later date."
The accident was one of two within an hour Friday morning in which a child was hit by a vehicle. A middle school student was hit by a vehicle near a Little Rock bus stop shortly before 7 a.m.
See Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.