8-year-old flown to hospital after serious crash near Taylorsville

ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. — A child was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries following a serious crash Monday morning in Alexander County.

Investigators told Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty that the crash also involved a local fire chief.

Officials with the Highway Patrol said the wreck happened around 7 a.m. along Highway 90 near Taylorsville.

Troopers said the driver of the car with the child in it did not have her headlights on, and that the child was not restrained in the backseat of the car when the crash happened.

A pickup truck driven by the Stoney Point fire chief was turning in to the Department of Transportation when the woman’s car struck his truck, troopers said.

Troopers said it was dark at the time and the driver of the car did not have her headlights on. Investigators also told Faherty that she was trying to get away from another woman after an earlier domestic situation.

People inside the nearby emergency medical services building heard the crash and rushed to help.

"When the crash happened, our crews did hear it,” supervisor Tim Mann said. “One described it as a garbage truck had dropped the dumpster, and then it just got real silent."

The fire chief immediately called for assistance and tried to help the 8-year-old, the driver of the car and the father of the child.

Officials said the child was taken to a hospital in Statesville and then flown to Baptist Medical Center with serious injuries.

Troopers said charges are pending.

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