JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville mother was arrested after police say she was under the influence when she crashed her car with her young daughter inside.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the crash happened Christmas morning about 90 minutes before sunrise. On Wednesday, News4Jax spoke with a good Samaritan who witnessed the crash.
It happened in front of a liquor store on Edgewood Avenue. Video, that cannot be released to the public because it’s police evidence, shows the vehicle crash through a utility pole before running into iron barriers in front of the liquor store. News4Jax was able to watch the surveillance video.
“I just leaped over. I had on no shoes and I’m five months pregnant. I didn’t care. I really didn’t,” said Keyonna Gunder, who saw the crash.
Gunder ran over with her cousin. Fuel, she said, was leaking and there was no way of knowing whether it would ignite.
“My cousin said, ‘Step back. That might be gas,’” Gunder said.
But Gunder said she was determined to help a little girl who was trapped in the back of the car while the child’s mother yelled for help.
“I said, ‘Come on. Come on.’ I reached through the slot and said, ‘Extend your hands. When I pull, you grab hold to me.’ She kept saying, ‘Get my baby. Get my baby.’ I said, ‘I got her. Just hold on.’ So I pulled her. I yanked and yanked and she was able to come out,” Gunder said.
Gunder then pulled the child’s mother out of the car, who was also trapped.
News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson says the image alone of the barriers at the scene gives an idea of the violent impact.
“Those steel barriers are very strong and for them to be bent shows you the high rate of speed and impact that car made,” Jefferson said. “This could have easily been a fatal crash.”
According to an arrest report, the driver smelled of alcohol and her eyes were bloodshot red. The report states she failed a sobriety test and was arrested at the scene.
A relative of the young girl came to the scene to take the girl home.
According to the report, the driver told police a black SUV ran her off the road. No black SUV was seen in the surveillance video viewed by News4Jax.
Antalisha Pinckney, 25, was arrested and charged with DUI and child abuse. She was released from jail after posting bond.