Car chase ends in tragedy; three children struck

YOUNGSTOWN — Tragedy disrupted the holiday peace in a quiet North Side neighborhood, sending three children to the hospital and police on a search for an unidentified man.

By 7:30 p.m. Thursday, police had blocked off the corner of Cordova and Granada avenues with yellow police tape. A heavily damaged vehicle rested in the yard of the brick house at the intersection. The clothing of several young children lay strewn about.

Residents of nearby homes stood in the cold, piecing together details of what happened minutes earlier.

Those details were still unclear to police officers as of late Thursday.

Capt. Michael Vodilko of the Youngstown Police Department said Liberty police officers had been chasing the man driving the car now sitting in the front yard of the house. He said the officers lost sight of the car minutes before the driver made his way down Granada.

Vodilko said the car came down Granada at a high rate of speed, side swiping another car already disabled and blocking part of the street. He said after side swiping the disabled vehicle, the car hit a tree and then struck three children playing in a yard near the intersection.

The driver of the car immediately jumped out and ran away. Vodilko said the only description is a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

The condition of the children, ages 3,6 and 7, is not yet known, but all three were taken to nearby hospital emergency rooms. Vodilko said the accident and injuries appeared to be serious. Several ambulances were dispatched to the scene.