A Kansas prosecutor has declined to file criminal charges against a woman who was napping in her pickup truck when it accelerated onto a soccer field during a youth tournament, killing two people and injuring ten others.
The Sedgwick County district attorney, Marc Bennett, announced the decision on Thursday, saying investigators could not prove the 34-year-old driver consciously disregarded a risk to people on the field. The incident occurred on 17 October at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita.
Investigation findings
Investigators believe the woman failed to put the Chevrolet 1500 in park and likely pressed the gas pedal while sleeping. They conducted multiple interviews and ran a test in the same parking spot with a similar vehicle.
“I cannot prove she consciously disregarded a tremendous risk to people on that field,” Bennett said. He acknowledged the public might find his decision strange, noting that his 28-page report listed possible crimes but none fit the tragedy under Kansas law.
“If I could charge somebody, why wouldn't I?” Bennett said at a news conference. “But I also have an obligation to stand up and say, 'It's not here.'”
Victims and witness accounts
The two people killed were Cole Adrian, six, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, both from McPherson, Kansas. Ten others, ranging in age from five to 68, were reported injured and treated at area hospitals.
The Wichita police chief, Joe Sullivan, said his department spoke to victims and families before the report and other information were released publicly. “Every lead was examined. Every piece of evidence was reviewed. Every reasonable avenue available to us was pursued … Our responsibility is not to fill gaps with assumptions or speculation,” Sullivan said.
The report said the woman drove to the field with three children, left for a meal after two games, and returned by 2.30pm. While one child went to play, the mother and her two other children stayed in the truck. She said she planned to nap, and a daughter covered the windshield with a two-panel sunscreen. Less than an hour later, the vehicle began to move.
Test and evidence
Wichita police detectives ran an identical test, parking a Chevy 1500 in the same stall in drive mode. “The truck stayed in place until the accelerator was pressed,” the report said. “We sat there and waited and waited,” Bennett said. “After about 15 minutes we went, 'This truck isn't moving.' … Tires against a 7in curb and it did not move.”
Investigators interviewed more than 30 witnesses. Blood tests showed no evidence of drugs that would have impaired the driver's judgment. The report said the woman awoke to screams and the feeling of the vehicle moving. People who pulled her from the truck found her sleepy, “sobbing, at turns described as frantic, hysterical, saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What have I done?'”
Bennett said the case could be tried in civil court.
