Allen Park girl survives drunken hit-and-run

37-year-old driver faces drunk driving, leaving scene charges

ALLEN PARK, Mich. – An 11-year-old girl is the victim of a hit-and-run in an Allen Park neighborhood.

Police say the woman behind the wheel was drunk -- almost three times the legal limit.

The girl is OK. She's back in school but will need plastic surgery on her thigh which suffered a severe gash. As for the driver, she lives right around the corner, already has one drunk driving conviction and, witnesses say, she was driving with her headlights off.

It was just after 7 p.m. March 6 when, police say, a Chrysler Sebring went tearing down Ann Street in Allen Park, hitting 11-year old Jordan Johnson who was about to get in her sister's car.

"My first reaction was first: One, how do you know you're not in an accident? All alcohol aside. And then two: How do you hit someone or something and just take off?" said Cindy Johnson, Jordan's mother.

Jordan spent two nights in the hospital. She's now back at school but it hasn't been easy.

"She doesn't like to talk about it and it took her a couple of days to sleep through the night without waking up, freaking out. But she's OK now. She's handling it much better," said Cindy.

Police say the driver was 37-year-old Kellean Marie Lakatos, who was on her way home around the corner. A neighbor's surveillance video shows her pulling in with her lights now on and police showing up about 3 hours later and breathalyzing her to the tune of .22 blood alcohol content. A tow truck eventually hauled away her damaged car.

Her next-door neighbor said he's seen her driving at night before without her lights on.

"I think she should be locked up and the key thrown away," said Lakatos' neighbor, Jim. "It's awful to find out that she hit a little child, didn't stop and came home. I mean, I have two young kids -- what if it was my child?"

Lakatos now faces charges of drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Even worse for Jordan, the accident caused her to miss the Ariana Grande concert which was the next night at Joe Louis Arena. The detective actually tried to make some special arrangements to help her get around but she wasn't released in time.

Hopefully, Ariana will hear about this and maybe set aside an extra ticket for Jordan the next time she comes to town.


About the Author:

Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.