A woman was under the influence of alcohol when she hit a teacher and a student on a sidewalk outside of Westinghouse Academy in Homewood West in October, according to charges filed by Pittsburgh police.
Nickeya C. Mitchell, 57, of Homewood West was charged Thursday with felony counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI and aggravated assault by vehicle; misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and driving under the influence of alcohol; and three summary traffic offenses, according to court records.
She had not been arraigned on the charges as of early Saturday afternoon. A warrant was issued for her arrest, according to the courts.
According to a criminal complaint, police determined that Mitchell was driving an SUV south on North Murtland Avenue around 3:15 p.m. Oct. 15 when she ran a stop sign as she turned right onto Monticello Street.
She kept turning right and went onto the sidewalk, hitting a woman who was a teacher at Westinghouse Academy, and a 12-year-old boy who was a student at the school.
The boy was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in critical condition.
The boy, whose injuries included fractures to his legs, remains hospitalized and continues to receive treatments, the complaint states.
The woman was in stable condition when taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital. Although her injuries were described as minor, she suffers from headaches, nausea and leg pain, the complaint states.
Police arrested Mitchell after she failed field sobriety tests. Her blood alcohol level about an hour after the crash was recorded at 0.15%, nearly double the legal driving limit of 0.08%, the complaint states.
Open containers of alcohol were seen in Mitchell’s SUV, the complaint states.
At the scene, police said Mitchell told officers she and a friend were heading to a store to buy cigarettes. She said she drank one can of beer around noon. An officer said she appeared to be impaired and a moderate odor of alcohol was coming from her, the complaint states.
Mitchell claimed she had stopped at the stop sign and had swerved to avoid a truck, the complaint states. She said she tried to stop but believed she had accidentally put her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake.
The vehicle’s data recorder indicated that Mitchell had not braked during the five seconds before the collision, and that its speed was increasing, according to the complaint.
The passenger told police that Mitchell tried to stop but couldn’t because “the steering was loose,” and that they went up on the sidewalk and hit the pedestrians, according to the complaint.
