OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The fate of a 70-year-old driver who struck and killed a 14-year-old girl walking home from school is now in the hands of the Johnson County District Attorney.
Overland Park Police told 41 Action News Tuesday that officers have completed their investigation of the April 12 deadly crash and turned the case over to prosecutors last week.
In April, 14-year-old Alexandra Rumple was walking north on the sidewalk on the east side of Switzer Road heading home from nearby Oxford Middle School where she was a student.
She was struck by the car, also heading north, on the sidewalk and witnesses say was dragged by the car.
Rumple later died of her injuries.
The driver told police the brakes on his 2006 Ford Taurus failed.
Overland Park Police Officer John Lacy says the now completed police report includes statements from multiple witnesses.
He says some of them came forward well after the crash.
Lacy says the police report also includes a report on the car's condition, what he called a "vehicle autopsy."
The report also includes a toxicology report, which may show whether or not the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.
Lacy says those reports typically take three or four weeks to get back from the lab.
Witnesses told police three other children dodged the out-of-control car to get out of the way before it struck Rumple.
Witnesses also told police the driver left the road at 129th Street headed north on Switzer, then hit a traffic signal, hit Rumple at 123rd Street and then crashed into a fence, stopping at 121st Street.
Kristi Bergeron, spokeswoman for Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe, says the D.A.'s office is conducting further investigation and review.
As a result, Bergeron says a decision about whether or not to charge the driver with a crime hasn't been made yet.
