Share
A mother was charged with driving while impaired Friday, police said, after she slammed into a CATS bus and a median in southwest Charlotte, causing her 2-year-old son to be ejected from her car.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said the boy, Anthony Lucente, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries. Three others were taken to a local hospital after the wreck.
The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. on South Tryon Street near Kingman Drive, just south of the Interstate 77 interchange.
Police said Meeyung Park was driving north in a 2001 Chrysler 300M when she sideswiped a car. Then she rear-ended a stopped CATS bus before striking a median in the road.
Her son, who was in the backseat, was ejected, police said. Paramedics rushed him to CMC.
Paramedics also took Meeyung Park and the child’s grandmother, who was in the car, to CMC. Anthony and his grandmother, Soon Ok Park, were admitted to the hospital, police said.
Seven passengers were on board the CATS bus at the time of the crash, police said. One was taken to an area hospital after complaining of injury.
The drivers of the sideswiped car and the CATS bus were not injured
Police said their preliminary investigation revealed that the boy was not properly restrained in his child seat and that speed and drug impairment contributed to the wreck. The investigation is ongoing.
Meeyung Park is charged with DWI, driving without an operator’s license, reckless driving, failure to reduce speed, a child restraint violation, and two counts of serious injury by vehicle, a felony.
