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UPDATE: Schenectady child was 'hanging on for dear life' in runaway vehicle
Updated 2:22 p.m.
SCHENECTADY — A 5-year-old child was not seriously hurt after being inside a runaway vehicle that crashed on Mason Street.
The child’s mother came home from running errands, put the sport utiliy vehicle in park, turned it off and took the keys out of the ignition. She was grabbing her 2-year-old child, while her 5-year-old was getting some property out of the vehicle, according to police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken.
“The vehicle began to roll down the slight decline,” he said.
Janet MacLachlan, who lives on Mason Street, said she had let her dog out and was checking on her dead plants when she saw a woman chasing the vehicle headed toward Avenue A.
“She’s trying to catch up to the car and screaming ‘My baby, my baby!’ ” MacLachlan said.
The child in the car was “hanging on for dear life,” she said.
Another woman chased after the mother of the toddler to help, according to MacLachlan. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody run so fast,” she said.
The vehicle came to rest after hitting the railing of the steps leading up to the Everlasting Life Church of God in Christ at the corner of Mason Street and Avenue A.
The Good Samaritan calmed the mother down as MacLachlan tended to the mother’s other children.
McCracken said the 5-year-old bumped his head during the crash. The 2-year-old was evaluated as a precautionary measure when the mother put him down quickly to chase the rolling vehicle.
The SUV was towed from the scene, according to McCracken. No charges or tickets were issued.
“It appears to be a malfunction from the transmission,” McCracken said.
There was no structural damage to the church, according to McCracken.
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