Hit-And-Run Driver Crashed Into Mother, 6-Year-Old Child At FL Walmart

LARGO, FL — A 32-year-old woman was arrested for a Thursday night hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a mother and her 6-year-old child outside a Largo Walmart, authorities said.

The crash happened just before 9 p.m. at the store at 2677 Roosevelt Blvd., Largo police said in a news release.

Lauren Howells hit the victims as they left the Walmart, as well as multiple vehicles in the parking lot, before leaving the scene, police said.

The mother was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries, while the child was brought to a hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.

Howells’ vehicle was found by the Clearwater Police Department at the Days Inn on Gulf-to-Day Boulevard but the suspect wasn’t with it, police said.

Investigators learned she left the Days Inn before the incident and returned shortly after the crash with damage to her vehicle.

Clearwater police determined that she left the hotel in a second vehicle before detectives got there.

While searching for the suspect and the second vehicle, Largo police learned the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office stopped a separate vehicle that was also registered to Howells for a traffic stop, investigators said.

Largo police worked with Pinellas County deputies to find Howells and she was taken into custody at The Murphy Hotel located at 4900 34th Street.

During an interview, she admitted to driving the vehicle, hitting something and leaving the scene.

Howells is charged with leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with injuries and reckless driving with serious bodily injury.