Woman accused of hitting child and driving away had dropped a child off at same school, investigators say
PLANO, Texas - A woman accused of hitting a girl walking to school and then driving away had dropped a child off at the same school prior to the incident, Plano police said.
Zulma Beltran
What We Know: Police arrested 49-year-old Zulma Beltran of Richardson around 1 p.m. on Thursday.
Beltran was charged with collision involving personal injury, a felony.
What They're Saying: Officer Andrae Smith said investigators developed Beltran as a suspect about a week after the incident.
"When we posted this on social media, our community showed up and showed out," Smith said.
Smith said investigators checked cameras at Wilson Middle School, where the girl was walking, to determine if a vehicle matching the description had been at the school.
Turns out, Beltran had just come from dropping off a child at the school.
Smith said the girl who was hit "was in the right every step of the way, from the moment she left home for school, entered the crosswalk, got hit by an individual who didn't care about her wellbeing."
The Backstory: On Dec. 10, a camera captured video of the SUV hitting the 12-year-old girl as she crossed Westridge Drive on her way to Wilson Middle School.
The video shows what appears to be a Buick Enclave hit the girl, back up and then drive away. The girl screams as she’s thrown several feet. She can be heard crying as she gets up and limps towards school.
The girl's family told FOX 4 she was not seriously hurt. She made it to school that morning and then reported what happened to her school resource officer.
Police had previously identified Beltran as the driver and said she admitted what she did to police.