Student hit by car/ 7-year-old girl injured walking near school

1 Comment | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 12, 2000 | by Becca Blond

A 7-year-old girl was hit by a car Monday as she crossed the street after leaving school, the second such accident in a little more than a week.

Kristen Lewis was walking across Monterey Road in front of Monterey Elementary School with two other children and an adult. A car traveling eastbound lost control and hit Kristen, Colorado Springs police Sgt. Dennis Dougan said.

Kristen was taken to Memorial Hospital and released to her parents with a broken collarbone and a concussion.

Shawn Sheriff, 22, the father of one of Kristen's friends, and the other children were not in the crosswalk.

The driver of the car, Antonio Espinoza Sustaita, 25, saw the four in the road and tried to brake. Sustaita's car spun out of control on the icy road, hitting Kristen and then sliding into a parked car, Dougan said.

There were no other injuries.

Sustaita was charged with driving without a license and insurance.

Sheriff received a ticket for jaywalking.

Although Monday's accident appears to be related to weather and not speed, area resident Brian Farson says the stretch of road by Monterey Elementary, which is on the city's southeast side, is prone to speeders, and is concerned about safety in the school zone.

"We are sick and tired of the speeding," Farson said. "Something needs to be done. What, I don't know, but we need to do something, especially being by a school zone and all."

Flashing yellow signs warn drivers they are entering a school zone, but Eric Peterson, a staff member at Monterey and a crossing guard who witnessed Monday's accident, is not sure how much good the signs do.

"People, for whatever reason, do not slow down and drive slowly through school zones," Peterson said. "They are always in a hurry to go someplace."

Peterson said there are frequent clashes between drivers and crossing guards at Monterey. He said it is not uncommon for drivers to ignore the crossing guard and drive through the stop sign he holds.

"If the police really had a quota for tickets, they could fill them within one day if they put officers at every school crossing," Peterson said.

Monday's accident comes 10 days after Genoveva Natasha Aldama died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on her way home from school on Dec. 1.

Aldama, 12, and Sina Walker, 12, were crossing Pikes Peak Avenue near Coleridge Avenue when a car that witnesses said was "traveling fast" weaved between a car that was slowing and one that had stopped.

The car then struck the two Emerson-Edison Junior Academy seventh- graders and left the scene.

Aldama died the next day. Walker spent two days in the hospital with a fractured pelvis.

- Edited by Mike Braham. Headline by Tim Chong