There?s no reason why the woman charged with vehicular manslaughter in Towson didn?t see a grandmother crossing the street with a baby stroller ? before she plowed through them.
That?s the conclusion of Baltimore County police Officer Tracie Eckstein, who testified Thursday on the fourth day of the hit-and-run trial of Lazara Arellano de Hogue, 41.
“There was nothing obstructing vision,” Eckstein said of the busy Goucher Boulevard intersection where Arellano de Hogue crashed her red pickup into 55-year-old Marjorie Thomas and a stroller holding her grandson, Elijah Cozart, 3, on Dec. 1, 2006. “There were no visibility problems.”
Thomas was injured but survived. Elijah and his stroller were dragged beneath the truck as Arellano de Hogue drove the two miles to her Baltimore home. His mangled body was found on the side of the road, halfway there ? with the toddler still alive, police said.
Arellano de Hogue?s defense attorney, Ricardo Zwaig ? one of four current finalists for an open Howard County judgeship ? has suggested that Elijah might have died quickly.
But Baltimore County police Officer Dominic Rizzo testified Wednesday that the boy was breathing when he found him.
Zwaig also has said in the court that Thomas and Elijah “darted” in front of his client?s truck, drawing an objection from prosecutor Allan Webster.
A Mexican immigrant who wears a headset for Spanish translation during the trial, Arellano de Hogue allegedly told police that she was in a hurry to get home and that she “had the green light” when she struck Thomas.
She said she never saw the boy ? and didn?t know there wasa toddler in the stroller.
Her passenger, Kenai Santos, 22, testified she never heard a scraping sound as they drove with Elijah and his stroller trapped underneath the truck.
Webster asked Santos to describe how the vehicle left the scene where Elijah?s stroller was later found.
“Well,” Santos replied.
The trial will likely go into next week.
