POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A woman was arrested Tuesday after the sheriff's office said she intentionally drove over her boyfriend and their 16-month-old son with her car in Lake Wales.
The sheriff's office said 27-year-old Aaliyah Ross and her 25-year-old boyfriend got into an argument that started inside the house. As it escalated, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the man went outside to "cool off," taking their 16-month-old son with him. While outside, Judd said the man threw a cinder block onto Ross' car.
The sheriff's office said Ross went outside, placed two other children into her Corolla with her, then lunged at her boyfriend with the car. Her boyfriend picked up their 16-month-old child and began to run away from the car when Ross drove after them and ultimately ran them over. Surveillance footage from the scene can be viewed above. The full video can be viewed on the Polk County Sheriff's Office social media pages.
Ross reportedly told detectives there have been several times she acted as though she were going to run over the victim, but would swerve at the last second to avoid hitting him. She said she assumed he would move out of the way in this instance, but did not, detectives reported.
The boyfriend was treated and released from a local hospital, having suffered from a bruised body and lungs. The baby remains hospitalized with a broken left shoulder and collar bone, multiple broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung and multiple cuts and bruises to his body, the sheriff's office reported.
“Aaliyah Ross made a series of incredibly unthinkable choices Monday: running over a man and a baby with a car, leaving the baby alone, and failing to get medical treatment for the obviously injured baby," Judd said. "Someone who does this to a baby will do this to anyone—her uncontrollable rage is a threat to the public.”
The two other children placed in Ross' vehicle were located and the Florida Department of Children and Families is currently evaluating their plan of custody.
Ross is facing charges of aggravated child abuse, aggravated domestic battery, negligent child abuse, domestic battery and leaving the scene of a crash.