Background: The North Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in Greenwood, W.Va. (Google Maps). Inset: Sydni Healy (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A woman in West Virginia is accused of crashing her Chevrolet Malibu and then running off to hide in the woods, leaving a child behind in the vehicle.
Sydni Healy, 31, has been charged with gross neglect of a child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, Harrison County court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. She is in the North Central Regional Jail and Correctional Facility in Greenwood, West Virginia, and has pleaded not guilty.
On Sunday, Healy was driving a Chevy Malibu in the area of Murphy Run Road in Clarksburg, West Virginia. A man said she had dropped him off at work at about 10:40 a.m. with a child in the vehicle, regional CBS affiliate WDTV reported. The man's relationship to the child was not immediately made clear.
The man added that Healy appeared to be OK at first, but then she started acting in an odd manner.
The defendant allegedly crashed the Malibu, and the Harrison County Sheriff's Office responded to the site. Authorities say that the child was inside the sedan — but Healy wasn't.
The woman had run toward nearby Summit Park and hidden in the woods, deputies said. They checked on the child, who was apparently not wearing a seat belt but was OK.
The man who was with Healy earlier arrived at the crash site and told law enforcement his story, which the child confirmed, according to the local outlet. The child did not know how the crash happened because they were looking at a device.
The Chevy Malibu had severe damage to its roof near the passenger side.
Deputies spotted Healy hiding in the woods, and when they gave her field sobriety tests, they said she showed signs of impairment. She was arrested and booked into jail on Monday, and she is being held on $50,000 bond.
The defendant is due to appear in Harrison County Magistrate Court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 29.
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