New Brunswick fire director hits 3 kids with SUV
NEW BRUNSWICK (WABC) -- Three children are recovering in the hospital after authorities say they were struck by an SUV while walking home from school in New Jersey Tuesday.
The kids were walking in the crosswalk on Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick when they were run down by the city's fire director around 3:30 p.m.
The victims, 14-year-old Joselyn Pelaez, 14-year-old Arly Melquiadez and her 6-year-old younger brother John Mejia, were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. At least one of them was initially listed as critical, but all three conditions were upgraded to fair as of 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Witnesses say it was a clear day and that there was nothing obstructing the view of New Brunswick Fire Director Robert Rawls, so the victims' relatives are demanding to know how he failed to see them. There was no crossing guard working the busy intersection at the time.
Rawls, 56, was on duty and immediately called authorities.
The prosecutor's office would not say how fast Rawls was driving at the time of the crash or how the incident happened. At the hospital Tuesday night, Joselyn's uncle said the family is outraged.
"I wanna know, if this guy work for the city, why he no respect the law," he said. "The mayor come to see us and says sorry. That's nothing for me."
No charges have been filed, but an investigation by the prosecutor's office is continuing.
Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at (732) 745-3373.
