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Girl in critical condition after being hit by truck

Kiersten Brown, 11, was flown to Bayfront Medical Center after she darted into the path of a truck on Hicks Road in Hudson.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published October 11, 2005

HUDSON - An 11-year-old Hudson girl was in extremely critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center after she was struck by a flatbed truck Monday afternoon.

Kiersten Brown, a fifth-grader at Northwest Elementary, darted east across Hicks Road just north of Bert Street about 4 p.m. and was hit by a red Stock Building Supply truck traveling north, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Bill Foden said.

Kiersten had been dropped off by her school bus on the east side of Hicks Road and crossed to the west side just before the accident, witness Courtney Dover, 14, said.

Then the girl ran out eastward to cross the street again and was hit by the left front side of the truck, Foden said. The school bus was already gone when the accident occurred, school district transportation supervisor Jack Greene said.

"She just ran across the street, ma'am," flatbed driver Richard Mendes, 51, said, shaking his head as troopers blocked Hicks Road with crime scene tape. "She just ran across the street."

Foden said Mendes of 2077 Breezy Way in Spring Hill would not be charged in the accident. Mendes was clearly shaken, kneeling at the side of the road not far from where Kiersten had been thrown.

Kiersten was flown to Bayfront Medical Center for emergency care. Pasco Fire Rescue battalion Chief Randy Mortellaro said she was semiresponsive and moaning when emergency officials arrived.

Northwest principal Renee Sedlack arrived at the scene quickly to share information about the girl with Pasco Fire Rescue and the Florida Highway Patrol.

"She's a wonderful child," Sedlack said, adding that Kiersten has attended the school as long as she could recall.

Brenda Dover, Courtney's stepmother, said she had asked school transportation officials to move the school bus stop to the west side of the street so children did not have to cross the busy Hicks Road each day.

Dover has two other children, and her home is on the west side of the intersection.

Karen Miyashiro, 57, Dover's next-door neighbor, said the intersection is busy enough that she also has asked the county to install a traffic signal.

"Every year I call," Miyashiro said.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:58:15]