HOUSTON – A child with autism is in the hospital after deputies said she was hit by a passing vehicle.
According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the incident happened just before 3 a.m. Thursday on Huffmeister Road near Bella Drive in northwest Harris County.
Deputies said the mother told them her daughter who has autism had wandered off for an unknown reason. The child left the neighborhood and wandered into the street on Huffmeister Road, authorities said.
The driver of a passing vehicle did not see the child and hit the girl with the front left of the vehicle, deputies said.
"Right now, at this time of day I'll add that this section of Huffmeister doesn't have much light," authorities said. "It's possible being as the child, being as short as she (is), was not able to be seen by the driver of the SUV."
According to authorities, the child sustained severe injuries and was flown to a hospital via Life Flight in critical condition, deputies said.
Deputies said the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and did not show any signs of impairment. She is cooperating with authorities.
Investigators are working to determine how the child got out and why she was in the road.