TRUESDALE, Mo. — Katie Hansen thought the driver of the white Suburban coming down her street was slowing as she walked her 6-year-old son Zane to the end of her neighbor’s driveway so he could cross the street.
“So we said, ‘OK, buddy, it's OK to cross,’” she said.
But it wasn’t.
Hansen said the driver sped up, and struck her son.
“Zane flew about seven feet in the air, and he landed in the street and he was unconscious for almost a full minute,” she said. “I thought my son was dead. And whenever he woke up and I heard him scream, that is a sound that I will never forget in my life.”
Zane survived but suffered a concussion.
Now, eight months later, Hansen wants to know why the driver hasn’t been charged with a crime or ticketed, why Truesdale police made multiple errors in the police report and why the only charges police sought in the case were against Zane's father for property damage.
She said she believes the driver’s wife’s political ties to the small Warren County town of less than 1,000 people are keeping him protected.
“His wife used to be an alderwoman for the city of Truesdale,” Hansen said. “Everybody knows everybody. And once you are in that position of power, you're still able to have some leverage.”
5 On Your Side is not naming the driver as he has not been charged with a crime.
The I-Team also left messages for Truesdale Police Chief Casey Doyle almost every day for a week, and he has not returned them.
The Warren County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office issued a statement confirming the only charges Truesdale police every sought in the case were against Zane's father for property damage on Sept. 28, 2023 -- three months after the incident. Prosecutors refused to issue those charges.
Police reports obtained by the I-Team show the driver and Zane are both listed as victims. The driver is listed as the victim of a property crime – damage Zane’s father caused to the driver’s vehicle after his son was struck.
“He just saw his son get hit in the street, and he was very emotional,” Hansen said of her fiancé. “He acted on emotion.
“And I think we all would have done the same in that situation, especially thinking that your child could possibly be dead.”
The police report also contains several errors.
Zane’s name is misspelled. His address is also wrong. The make of the vehicle that hit him is listed as a Tahoe, not a Suburban. The responding officer also reported there was no posted speed limit on the private street. Then, later reported the speed limit is 30 mph, when a sign at the top of the street says it’s 15 mph.
“I feel like they really dropped the ball on this and they let my son down,” Hansen said.
Hansen also believes the driver – who is one of her neighbors – did not intend to hit her son, but still needs to be held accountable. She said a passenger in the vehicle is the subject of a restraining order and was not supposed to be near a home in the subdivision.
“Somebody was in a vehicle who's not supposed to be down here, and they weren't paying attention, and they sped up and they hit Zane,” she said.
Hansen said Truesdale police never did any accident reconstruction at the scene to determine whether the driver was speeding. A neighbor’s surveillance camera only picked up about two seconds before the driver struck Zane, so it’s unclear how fast the driver was going or whether the driver sped up shortly before the impact.
“I feel like Zane would have had to die to have charges brought against the driver of the vehicle,” Hansen said.
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