MIDDLEBURY— A two-and-a-half-year-old girl remained in critical condition at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on Wednesday after being struck by an SUV on Weybridge Street at around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1.
Middlebury police said their preliminary investigation reveals the child was standing with her mother along the driver’s side of the vehicle parked on the north side of Weybridge Street, directly across from the Otter Creek Child Center (OCCC). The child is an enrollee at the center and her mom is a teacher there, OCCC officials confirmed on Wednesday.
Police believe the child saw a teacher at the center and ran into the street and into the path of a southbound SUV being driven by Zachary Bruchmiller, 22, of San Antonio, Texas. Bruchmiller is listed as a senior student at Middlebury College.
Police said the child was immediately taken to Porter Hospital and subsequently transferred to the critical care unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, N.H.
“Our prayers are with the family and everyone involved,” said Doumina Noonan, treasurer of the OCCC board, who was helping out at the center on Wednesday. “We want to respect the privacy of the family.”
Middlebury College Director of Media Relations Sarah Ray issued the following statement about the incident:
“Our thoughts are with the child and her family, and we hope very much that she will have a complete and speedy recovery from this terrible accident,” she said. “We will await the results of the police investigation before making any further statement about the accident itself.”