Parents Speak Out After 3 Deer Park Teens Struck By Car During Scavenger Hunt
DEER PARK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Police say a Long Island woman who allegedly struck three teenagers on a late-night scavenger hunt over the weekend was driving with a suspended license.
Cathleen Wild was arrested Monday. She's also charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and criminal possession of a hypodermic needle following the crash, which happened at 11:45 p.m. Sunday in Deer Park.
The judge set her bail at $100,000 cash or bond.
One of those teens was 16-year-old P.J. Harrington, who was struck and airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center with lacerated kidneys, brain swelling and broken bones. He was placed into a medically induced coma. The two other teens suffered less severe injuries.
Mary Anne and Paul Harrington were given the bad news on the phone Sunday night.
"I went down to my knees. I was praying that he's alive for me to see him," Mary Anne Harrington said.
"I never heard that scream before. I went down the stairs, on her knees in the kitchen, crying, 'PJ's been hit by a car,'" Paul Harrington said.
Court papers said police found six empty paper packets with residue of a powdery substance and two hypodermic needles discovered in her underwear.
According to court records, Wild told police the teens jumped into the roadway. The victims' parents also expressed anger that the suspect had a suspended license and reportedly blamed the students for the crash.
"When she first got out of the car, one kid said she said something like 'look what you did to my truck,'" Paul Harrington said.
About 30 classmates dropping off flowers and cards at the hospital said the ravages of drugs on Long Island have brought them closer together.
If convicted, what's the appropriate punishment in this case? Let us know below...
(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
