The driver of a vehicle that struck a 7-year-old boy last week as the youth crossed the street to get on a school bus has been arrested, authorities said Monday.
Izard County Sheriff Tate Lawrence said in a statement Tyler Heath Little, 28, faces a charge of first-degree assault.
The boy was airlifted to Arkansas Children's Hospital after being hit about 7 a.m. Thursday while crossing U.S. 69, just south of Mount Pleasant.
"By all witness accounts, [Little] ran the red lights on the school bus and hit the child," sheriff's office Lt. Charlie Melton said Monday.
Authorities said Thursday that the boy was "doing good," and Lawrence said in the statement that the child had "significantly less injuries than originally thought."
Little, who Melton said was arrested Thursday after a warrant was issued, is due in court Feb. 2.
State Desk on 01/10/2017