SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Police records are revealing more about a crash that killed a 2-year-old boy in Scottsdale last month. However, police have been unable to figure out why the SUV that hit the boy went over the curb.
The boy's parents brought him on a trip to Arizona for spring training, which they'd hoped would become a family tradition.
John Warren Mahlke was playing with his parents in a grassy area in front of the Butters Pancakes and Cafe near Hayden Road and Via de Ventura where the family was waiting for a table for breakfast. Then, a car went up on the curb and hit John and his father, the police report says. The impact threw John across the lawn.
Two off-duty firefighters who were at the restaurant tried to administer life-saving measures before Scottsdale fire and police arrived. John was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
The driver told police she was leaving the restaurant because of how busy it was. Surveillance video from the patio shows her car pulling up to Hayden Road and turning right, the police report says. Once she pulls onto the road, the vehicle continues its right turn even when it is in the right lane.
A blood draw confirmed the driver was not under the influence, the police report says.
Investigators also searched the driver's phone and found no open applications. It was last used more than an hour before the crash, police said.
The driver told police she had rented the car from the Turo app. She said the steering and acceleration felt strange but didn't think much of it because the car was still able to turn, according to the police report.
The driver told police she tried to stop when she saw the family she was driving toward.
The Department of Public Safety examined the car but found no mechanical issues, the police report says.
