Last update - 00:00 28/12/2006
Police car runs over 6th grader acting as crossing guard
By Revital Levy-Stein, Haaretz Correspondent
A police car on Thursday ran over an elementary school student who was fulfilling duties as a crossing guard from the school in the southern port city of Eilat.
The student, a sixth grader in the Mitzpeh-Yam school, sustained light injuries. He was crossing the street next to his school at a demarcated crosswalk.
At the time of the accident, the child was wearing a reflector jacket and carrying a broomstick with a stop-sign attached to it. The student sustained a complex fracture in his leg and was evacuated to Yoseftal hospital in Eilat for medical care.
Police commented on the incident, saying a Ford Transit police car passed at the crosswalk when the crossing guard signs signaled that it was open. According to police, the student ran into the road suddenly and hit the car on its right side.
Police also said that the officer who drove the car is being handled as any civilian would and that they will decide whether to punish him following an investigation into the incident.