RAYTOWN, Mo. — A 19-year-old Raytown man has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and careless and imprudent driving in connection with a serious injury wreck Thursday.
The crash occurred shortly after 11 a.m. at the intersection of East 55th Street and Blue Ridge Cutoff and landed seven people in area hospitals.
According to a police probable cause statement, Daquan Clark was driving a yellow Ford Mustang north on Blue Ridge Cutoff when he blew through a red light and crashed into a westbound Nissan Rogue that was crossing the intersection.
The impact sent the Rogue into a third car, a Nissan Sentra, which had two young children riding in it as passengers.
Arriving Raytown police officers observed three vehicles, which were disabled in the crash, and a victim lying on the ground. An adult male passenger from the Rogue, who was struggling to breathe and also bleeding from the head and mouth.
He and the driver of the Rogue were transported to the hospital along with the driver of the Sentra, an adult passenger in that vehicle and both children.
Clark, who police allege was driving the Mustang, fled the scene north from Blue Ridge Cutoff on foot with a black bag in his hand, according to one witness.
Another witness reportedly saw Clark flee the scene, return to grab the black bag and then take off running again.
The witnesses identified Clark, who is the registered owner of the Mustang, from his driver’s license photo.
Less than an hour later, Clark showed up at an area hospital seeking medical attention. He was placed under arrest by officers already at the hospital to take victim statements.
Clark’s mom, who said she picked him up from a nearby gas station and took him to the hospital to evaluate his injuries, said he told her he was unsure what happened or why he was bleeding. He’d had the Mustang since “yesterday or the day before,” Clark’s mom told police.
The male victim with the head injury who was having trouble breathing underwent neurosurgery, according to court records, and was on life support. He was reportedly in critical but stable condition after surgery.
