OMAHA – It was just after playtime at Crayon Castle Childcare, located near 30th and Tucker Street in the Florence neighborhood.
On December 20 at around 4 p.m., the children had just gone inside when a car lost control and crashed through the fence that secures a play area behind the building.
We heard a crash, so I walked out the door and was like, ‘Oh my God,'” said Jacqueline Casey of Crayon Castle. “The car was smoking, and it was horrible. There were five small children in the car, and only one was restrained.
One of the boys flew up and hit the windshield. He was not doing that well. He suffered significant injuries. When they got the mom out, her leg was just dangling. It was horrible. Horrible. We have bollards on both sides of the fence that prevented the car from passing through the building.”
Angle Rodriguez owns the F-1 Barbershop next door. He was working with a client when he heard the crash.
“I walked outside and I see a headlight in the middle of the sidewalk, and then we see the car just destroyed,” Angel told me.
He and others nearby rushed to assist those inside the crashed car.
“The car door did not want to open so I yanked it hard and I pulled the airbag up… her son had a big gash on his face and then he was also bleeding and I think her leg was broken, so we pulled her out,” Angel told me.
The crash video shows the driver of the car speeding up to pass a truck in the left lane before losing control. The car collided with a drainage bump-out curb before careening into the daycare fence.
Excessive speeding is a long-standing issue on North 30th Street, according to residents and workers.
“A lot of people go way too fast over here,” Angel explained. “I think the light right here by the HyVee helps a little bit, but then there is just a big long [stretch] right here where people go way too fast.”
Fortunately, no children from the daycare were injured in the incident. The daycare owner told First Alert 6 that Omaha Police conducted a speed enforcement operation during the afternoon rush hour on Thursday, pulling over several drivers.