Toddler rushed to hospital after being hit by SUV backing out of parking spot

Police respond to the scene of an auto-pedestrian incident in St. George, Utah, July 22, 2018 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A toddler was administered CPR then rushed to the hospital Sunday evening after being hit by a driver backing out of a parking spot.


Update July 23, 4 p.m. Police confirmed Monday that the toddler died following the incident.

Read the full follow-up report here: Toddler dies after being hit by mom backing out of parking space


St. George Police responded to the incident in a residential area near the 1100 East block of 400 South in St. George just after 7 p.m.

Police respond to the scene of an auto-pedestrian incident in St. George, Utah, July 22, 2018 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

A family function had been taking place at a home in the area when a woman went to leave in an SUV, St. George Police Lt. Curtis Spragg said.

“There was a child behind the car,” Spragg said, describing the child as a “young toddler.”

As the driver backed the SUV out of its parking spot, the toddler was hit.

Responding police arrived and immediately began performing CPR on the child while medical personnel from Gold Cross Ambulance were in route.

A witness at the scene said the toddler appeared limp as it was moved into an ambulance and rushed to Dixie Regional Medical Center a few blocks away.

“Luckily, we’re close to the hospital,” Spragg said, “so we were able to transport really quick.”

Police at the scene were unable to comment on the child’s condition.

Investigators were speaking with driver, Spragg said, noting that they do not believe any criminal intent was involved in the incident.

The area of the incident was blocked off by police tape as an accident reconstruction team combed the scene.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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18 Comments

  • comments July 22, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    terrible thing to happen

  • Real Life July 23, 2018 at 12:50 am

    Just horrible. Happens way too often, and usually an honest mistake. ALWAYS check behind your vehicle before backing up, especially at an event where there are multiple children. Hope the kid is ok.

    • Striker4 July 23, 2018 at 2:00 pm

      anything you say officer doofus

      • Real Life July 23, 2018 at 6:11 pm

        This isn’t the place.

  • DRT July 23, 2018 at 7:33 am

    My heart goes out to all involved in this terrible situation. And that includes all responders.

  • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 8:53 am

    Exactly why my husband put a backup camera on his 1998 Dodge Ram. He was so worried he was going to back up and hit a kid. Whether it be in our driveway or a parking lot. It brings comfort. It’s pretty awesome and it’s not expensive at all. He did install a new stereo that would accept the camera since his 1998 stereo wasnt compatible ;). You can buy the camera On amazon for $19.99 (Esky EC170-08 waterproof night vision) night vision works great! Camera works great!

  • hiker75 July 23, 2018 at 9:42 am

    I did not know you could buy back-up cameras and install them on vehicles. Thanks for mentioning it.

    • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 11:49 am

      You’re welcome!

  • xbcmc059 July 23, 2018 at 10:38 am

    The “free-range parenting” law. Wow just in time!

    • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 12:26 pm

      Hey! My parents didn’t hover. Shux, my mom was a single mom. I walked to kindergarten by myself. I played outside and I came in when the street lights came on. I never got hit by a car. They neighbors watched out for me and treated me like I was their own. (They were mexican, I love them!)

      This isnt about free range parenting. It’s about idiots only watching out for themselves.

      • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 12:57 pm

        Having said that, I never learned racism. I only learned consequences of not obeying the law.

        My mother dated Asian, black, white, and God knows what else, um maybe Philippino. So I never learned racism. I did learn, however, all races can be mean, or not obey the law, or be very nice and respectful. I know this article isnt about race. Right? But this racism card people pull, I just cant comprehend it. All I can think is, maybe, just maybe, it isnt about race and it’s about character.

        • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 1:00 pm

          Like maybe what happens to someone isnt because they are black or native American or mexican or white maybe it’s because they are a criminal or just a complete a$$%^&*!

          • comments July 23, 2018 at 1:51 pm

            why are you on a tirade about race? How is it relevant here?

          • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 3:42 pm

            Dont really know. Just drank some bud light lol

          • ladybugavenger July 23, 2018 at 4:17 pm

            I was just wondering how free range parenting was a part of it. I talked it out and it has nothing to do with it. Thanks for reading.

            RIP to the little boy. Prayers for the family.

  • DRT July 23, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    To try to get this back on track, fifty some years ago I worked for an engineering outfit that was contracted to Mountain Bell. (Long story about phone company history but not appropriate here.)
    Anyway all of Mountain Bell’s vehicles, and all of their contractor’s vehicles carried orange traffic cones. Anytime a vehicle was parked, the traffic cone went out behind it. It was a very serious offense to end the day without the cone in the vehicle.
    This was designed so that employees had to walk to the back of their vehicle and pick up the cone before moving. It was amazing how the number of backing accidents went down.

    • Mike P July 24, 2018 at 9:24 am

      DRT, same here. We were required to place our cones front & back. The company I worked for called it “The circle of safety” when we picked ’em up. And boy ! we were in trouble if we were ever caught parked without our cones out !

  • Marduk July 23, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    “Luckily, we’re close to the hospital.” – Curtis Spragg

    Oh yes, very lucky situation, Spragg. Idiot.

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