One-year-old struck by police car suffered moderate injuries

A child was hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after he was struckby an officer’s vehicle in downtown Jefferson City.

It happened just after 11 Wednesday morningnear East McCarty and Chestnut Street.

Authorities have confirmed an officer was involved in the crash that injured the one-year-old boy. Corporal Scott White with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said it appears the child got out of his home through an unlocked door and was only outside for a “short period of time.”He said the child was in front of a parked car and then went into the road from the south curb in the 800 block of East McCarty Street.

ABC 17 News has confirmed the child was air lifted to University Hospital in Columbia for treatment. White said he suffered moderate injuries. He was stillbeing treated and evaluated for those injuries as of Thursday afternoon.

The highway patrol is leading the investigation.

Investigators were on the scene Wednesday afternoon reconstructing the crash. Our reporter on the scene says he saw troopers taking pictures of a Jefferson City police car Wednesday morning.

We are working to learn more about what lead up to the crash.

Watch ABC 17 News at 5:00 for the latest details and developments. You can also follow @joeabc17 for the latest tweets from the scene.