In the aftermath of the tragic hit-and-run death of a 3-year-old boy on Goucher Boulevard in Baltimore County on Friday, people who live and work in the area said they are shocked but not surprised that a crash occurred at what they call a treacherous crossing for pedestrians.
“I walk across here with my 4-year-old grandson,” said Marilyn Vanhoughten, 52, a resident of Fairbanks Apartments, an apartment complex just down the street from the intersection at Colbury Road in Glenmont. “The cars don?t seem to slow down even if they see you.”
“Usually I just wait until there are no cars before I cross,” she said.
Meanwhile, the hospitalized grandmother of the child said she “can?t remember” the accident.
Lazara Arellano de Hogue, 40, allegedly struck Marjorie Thomas, 55, of Hamilton, on Friday afternoon as Thomas crossed Goucher Boulevard at Colbury Road pushing a baby carriage holding her 3-year-old grandson, Elijah Cozart.
Police said de Hogue sped away, dragging the baby carriage with Elijah under her pickup for almost three-quarters of a mile to Regester Avenue and Loch Raven Boulevard. De Hogue finally stopped after she was chased by several witnesses, police said.
Elijah was later pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital. Thomas was listed in fair condition Sunday at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
From her hospital room Sunday evening, Thomas said she was “not feeling much better.” She added, “I still can?t remember anything.”
An employee at Movie Time, a video store in a shopping center across the street from the intersection, said customers told her the driver was honking her horn at Thomas just before she was hit.
“They told me she was just pushing the baby carriage up the median strip when the truck hit her,” the employee said of Thomas. “The driver was blaring the horn at the lady.”
“It?s dangerous out there. People walk from the apartments to go grocery shopping all day long,” the employee said.
Baltimore County police arrested de Hogue on Saturday and are holding her on $2 million bail.
Stephen Tong, an employee of Central Asia, a carryout restaurant directly across from the intersection, said he was in the kitchen along with other employees when the wreck occurred, so he did not witness it. Still, Tong said, he was not surprised.
“There are a lot of accidents at the intersection,” he said. “It?s very dangerous.”
