The parents of a 4-year-old Westminster girl hit by a neighbor’s SUV while playing in her backyard remain shocked and angered, they said Thursday at The Children’s Hospital in Denver, where the girl is recovering.
Allie Vining-Barnes was struck Tuesday afternoon when Sosyma Zwierzynski, 56, accelerated instead of braking and ran through the family’s fence.
“You think your kids are safe in your own backyard … in any backyard,” said Allie’s mother, Yvette Vining.
The girl’s father, Casey Barnes, who found his daughter curled up in a fetal position, said he was horrified.
“It could happen anywhere,” he said.
The driver’s husband told 9News his wife is a good driver and is very sorry.
“She’s very upset. She hasn’t been able to sleep,” Elias Zwierzynski told the television station. The Post was unable to reach the Zwierzynskis for comment.
Police said Sosyma Zwierzynski was backing her 2003 Toyota Highlander out of her driveway when she hit her mailbox.
She then hit the accelerator, thinking it was the brakes, and crashed through the Barnes’ fence.
She hit the girl, crashed through the fence a second time, then crashed into another neighbor’s tree, uprooting it.
After the wreck Zwierzynski returned to her home without knowing she had hit the girl, said Trevor Materasso, an investigator at the Westminster Police Department.
Allie’s injuries include a broken right elbow and clavicle, bruised lung and ribs, and abrasions that cover almost her entire body, Vining said.
“She can’t sleep through the night because she wakes up crying in pain,” Vining said.
“She wants to know why she can’t go out and play. … Why she can’t move her arm. At this point we’re very unforgiving.”
Barnes said Tuesday that Zwierzynski’s husband backed through their fence about a year ago. Police were unable to confirm a previous incident.
Zwierzynski was charged with careless driving resulting in bodily injury for Tuesday’s incident, but that’s not enough for Vining.
“I think they should charge her with as much as they possibly can,” she said.
“I don’t want her to have a license at all.”
Allie’s parents said they were concerned that Zwierzynski was not facing hit-and-run or failure-to-give-aid charges.
Zwierzynski didn’t leave the scene to avoid being held accountable and she didn’t know about the child, Materasso said.
Staff writer Simona Gallegos can be reached at 303-954-1555 or sgallegos@denverpost.com.
