Girl killed at Raleigh Christmas Parade by out-of-control vehicle pulling parade float, driver charged
The annual and festive Christmas parade in Raleigh, North Carolina, took a deadly turn on Saturday when a truck driver pulling a parade float went out of control, began weaving toward the crowd, and drove through a group of female dancers performing in front of his truck. One of the performers, a young girl, was struck and killed.
The Raleigh Police Department said that the fatality occurred around 10:14 a.m. near the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Boylan Avenue. The driver of the truck pulling the float has been identified as 20-year-old Landen Christopher Glass, who was arrested and charged with:
- Misdemeanor death by motor vehicle
- Careless and reckless driving
- Improper equipment
- Unsafe movement
- Carrying a firearm in a parade
Parade-goers said Glass had his driver’s window rolled down, “looked really scared” and was screaming for help as his truck was veering out of control. Several people in the crown and police that were on the scene jumped over barricades and raced toward the slow-moving truck to try and stop it.
Finally, the driver of the truck pulled up the truck’s emergency brake, successfully stopping the vehicle. But it was too late to save the young girl.
“The girls kept dancing, and then very quickly parted as the truck moved through them. There were more dancers beyond this group. We were all, I think, wondering if it was part of the parade,” a woman who saw the accident told WRAL.
ABC News also reported witnesses as saying that they could hear Glass “screaming out of the truck’s window that he had lost control and couldn’t stop the vehicle.” Raleigh’s Mayor, Mary-Ann Baldwin, took to Twitter to express her heartache for the child killed in the accident.
One eyewitness, Justin Kase Conder, told CNN that the raised pick-up truck suddenly lurched forward, honked an air horn and “people started screaming.” The float was carrying some members of Raleigh’s CC & Co. Dance Complex. The dance troupe had 200 performers in the parade, with some as young as five years old, according to news affiliate WTVD.
We still don’t know the age and identity of the young girl that was struck and killed; but police said that her family has asked for privacy during this very difficult time. There were no other injuries reported, although many people came close to also being struck by the out-of-control vehicle.
“The truck wasn’t going that fast, but because the girls had no idea it was coming — they just couldn’t get out of the way …” ~ Buzz Feed News
Following the accident, the parade was officially canceled. Glass, from Goode, Virginia, is currently being detained at the Wake County Detention Center on a $4,000 bond.
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
