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Toddler recovering after being dragged by truck that drove off

Posted at 6:10 PM, Jan 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-06 03:33:45-05

TAMPA, Fla. — A 2-year-old girl is recovering after police say a man left the scene of an accident involving the girl on Friday.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said just before 2 p.m. on Friday, a 2-year-old and her family were standing outside on their front lawn on the 2000 block of Anthony St.

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They said the 2-year-old suddenly ran into the road at the same time a white Ford truck was traveling southbound.

Investigators say the mom's screams saved her daughter's life. The girl was just an inch from being hit head on.

The girl stopped when she heard her mom, however, her dress got caught and the driver kept going, dragging her. She hit the passenger door and appeared to have been ran over by the truck's right rear wheel.

The sheriff's office said the driver stopped briefly without getting out of the truck. Witnesses say the man said "she shouldn't have been in the road," and then fled the scene.

The victim was transported to Advent Health with not life-threatening injuries. The girl has a broken hip, external bleeding in her stomach and a blood clot in her leg.

The girl will stay in the hospital at least one more night at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. She is also going to have to be in a wheelchair for a few months.

The driver, 57-year-old Randolph Combs, was later located and arrested. He told investigators he didn't know he hit anyone.

He is being held on a $50,000 bond and officials say his license was suspended in October.

He is now facing a charge of leaving the scene of the crash with serious bodily injury.