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A 7-year-old boy is dead and a 5-year-old girl was taken to a hospital with serious injuries after their father drove the car they were in over a 40-foot embankment yesterday afternoon.
According to the Mesa Police Department, the children’s father, 42-year-old Bradley Patrick, may have been under the influence of drugs at the time of the wreck.
Mesa police say Patrick was seen in a beige 2006 GMC Yukon exiting the westbound Red Mountain 202 freeway at the McDowell Road exit about 4:00 p.m. yesterday. In the car were two of his children, Logan, 7, and his 5-year-old daughter.
As the Yukon carrying the family approached the red light at the McDowell exit, it was traveling at full speed, and Patrick failed to stop at the “T-intersection,” a witness who was driving behind Patrick later told police.
Directly across from the red light is a steep, 40-foot embankment guarded by a raised curb and metal railing. The Yukon jumped the curb, crashed through the metal railing, and was then airborne as it sailed off the embankment.
The SUV landed in a dirt field, rolled on its side, and caught fire.
Witnesses
scaled the embankment and tried to remove Patrick and his kids as the
flames increased. The two kids were both seat-belted in and needed to be
cut out of the vehicle.
Logan was unresponsive
as witnesses performed CPR on him. He was taken to the Maricopa Medical
Center where he was pronounced dead. The 5-year-old was also taken to
the MMC with serious injuries. Her current condition is unknown.
Patrick was also taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries.
No
charges have been filed against Patrick, but Mesa police say drug
impairment is being investigated a possible cause of the wreck — Mesa
Sergeant Ed Wessing tells New Times Patrick showed signs of impairment and investigators found narcotic pain killers on his person.
