A five-year-old child sustained injuries when the vehicle in which he was a passenger drove off a bluff sending it onto Highway 50 three-tenths of a mile west of Highway 87, according to officals. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report, the crash occurred at 6:35 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10.
Information provided by the California Police Department indicates the crash was the last of a chain of events. A short time before the crash, a city police officer on a call was approached by a female running down a street in the south part of California. She allegedly claimed to have been beaten and her five-year-old taken by his father. The boy's father also took her 1999 Oldsmobile Alero and drove away with the child.
A short time later, according to the California Police, the man, identified by authorities as Anthony D. Allen, 24, is alleged to have turned on Stockton Road. After the road ended, he continued across a field and drove the car off the bluff onto Highway 50, totaling it on impact and injuring the five-year-old. The child was transported to University Hospital, Columbia, by ambulance with what were believed to be serious injuries.
The driver took off on foot and was later found at his apartment on Gerhart Road. He later was transported to a hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.
According to the California City Police, charges are pending against Allen. Some of the possible charges include tampering with a motor vehicle, domestic assault, endangering the welfare of a child and driving while revoked.
According to Court documents, Allen is currently on probation after conviction on other charges.