4 boys struck by hit-run driver

LA PLATA, Md. — A teenager and three young boys waiting for a school bus were struck yesterday by a hit-and-run driver who was under the influence of drugs, police said.

The boys were sitting on a curb with a group of other children and adults nearby when a white Pontiac Grand Prix veered onto the curb in the 6700 block of Glen Albin Road at 8:31 a.m.

The car hit the boys and continued on, slowing briefly before running a stop sign as it fled.

Police said a 4-year-old boy and a 10-year-old boy were flown to Children’s Hospital in the District in serious condition. Another 10-year-old was taken to Civista Medical Center in La Plata.

The 17-year-old, who was accompanying the 4-year-old, was treated on the scene.

The young boys were students at Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School.

Police said eyewitness accounts led them to the vehicle about 20 minutes later.

At 8:52 a.m., officers stopped the Pontiac near Crain Highway in Waldorf. Physical evidence on the sedan and later a witness confirmed that it was the hit-and-run vehicle, said Maj. Joe Montminy of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.

Jacqueline E. Simmons, 29, of King George, Va., was charged with driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol, driving while impaired by a controlled substance, failure to stop after an accident with injury and failure to stop at a stop sign.

“She said she was en route to a methadone clinic,” Maj. Montminy said.

Witnesses said there appeared to be no reason for the Pontiac to veer to the curb.

Maj. Montminy said the suspect is a manager of a Papa John’s restaurant in La Plata.