WILLIAMSBURG — A box truck driver with a suspended license, who police believe was stoned, blew through a crosswalk, and ran over an 11-year-old girl, critically injuring her, officials said.
Douglas Watson, 51, of Maryland, was turning left onto Rutledge Avenue from Wythe Avenue just after 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon when he hit the young girl, police said.
Watson's truck knocked the girl to the ground and then he ran over her with his front left wheel, leaving the her in critical condition with a collapsed lung, a lacerated spleen and severe injuries to her torso, police said.
Emergency workers rushed her to Bellevue Hospital, police said.
Police later cuffed Watson, who had one prior sealed arrest in New York City, and charged him with failure to yield, failure to exercise due care, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, police said.
Watson was arraigned on Friday on those charges and a felony account of vehicular assault, court records show.
Watson's legal aid attorney couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
The State's Department of Motor Vehicles didn't immediately return information on the man's suspended license.
