By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 10, 2007

Charles County officials and residents and families of the young children struck by a hit-and-run driver at their school bus stop in La Plata are criticizing the judge's ruling that allowed the driver to leave jail this week on $50,000 bond.

"She ran over my son and kept going, and you would give her a $50,000 bond?" said Alyvetta Swenson, whose 10-year-old son suffered a broken leg and heavy bleeding from the crash Tuesday morning. "I don't understand the justification on that. I am very upset about this."

The driver, Jacqueline E. Simmons, 29, was released from jail Wednesday after posting bail. Authorities allege that she drove her white Pontiac Grand Prix over the curb on the 6700 block of Glen Albin Road, striking a crowd of 14 children waiting for their school bus, injuring four people before she drove away from the scene, according to the Charles County Sheriff's Office.

Simmons, who told police she is addicted to drugs and was on her way to a methadone clinic in Waldorf when the accident happened, has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, among other charges.

Simmons also has a criminal record. In 2005, she was involved in a hit-and-run accident in South Carolina. She also has been ticketed for driving under the influence twice in the past three years, also in South Carolina.

Appearing Wednesday before Charles County District Judge Richard A. Cooper, Simmons told the judge she would not flee the region if allowed out on bond.

"I definitely would not be a flight risk," she said. "I have nowhere else to go."

Simmons's mother, who would not give her name, added: "I'm the first to admit she has problems, but she's been working hard to get over her addictions."

A District Court commissioner originally set Simmons's bond at $25,000. Prosecutor Erin Lyons asked Cooper to deny bond.

"In light of the serious nature of the crime and Ms. Simmons's prior convictions, we request that she be held without bond," Lyons said in court Wednesday.

Cooper then raised the bond to $50,000. By that evening, Simmons had posted bond and left jail.

The decision sparked harsh comments from many neighbors and community leaders.

The NAACP is considering filing a formal complaint regarding the judge's decision, said William Braxton, president of the Charles County NAACP branch.

"The NAACP is outraged at the fact that this young lady with prior convictions of hit-and-run was able to walk away with such a small bond after running over four African American kids at a bus stop," Braxton said. He added: "If a drug-deranged African American ran into an all-white neighborhood and ran over three or four white kids, we just strongly feel that the outcome would have been different."

County Commissioner Edith J. Patterson (D-Pomfret) said that Simmons "has a pattern" and that what happened Tuesday was a "heinous act."

"These are children who are scarred, emotionally scarred," Patterson said. "You just wonder the rationale. I'm not going to second-guess Judge Cooper, but I would say it's unfortunate that a crime at this level . . . that she is allowed to have a bail set so low that she can get out and drive home."

Commission President Wayne Cooper (D-At Large) said it is "tear-jerking" to see the injured children in pain.

He said that if the judge had seen the child with pins sticking out of his legs, "he might have reconsidered his decision. It was very confusing to me that a $50,000 bond would've been the amount that was established for the lady with her past history."

The commissioner added, "What would keep her from doing this again?"

Staff writer Megan Greenwell contributed to this report.