A 16-year-old student was struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk outside Warren Central High School Tuesday morning, and the driver kept going — until a witness followed him to a nearby apartment complex and police tracked him down. Tosiwo Ifamlik, a Bowling Green man, now faces multiple charges, including a felony count, after the crash near Dragon Street and Warren Central Avenue.
The crash happened around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to WBKO. The station reports the student was crossing in the crosswalk when she saw a black Dodge Durango turning nearby; believing the vehicle was speeding up, she started to run across before it struck her in the back, hitting her backpack and knocking her to the ground. She was wearing a bright orange shirt and was highly visible in the crosswalk, according to a witness account cited in the report.
That witness told police the driver left the scene, then followed the Durango to an apartment complex, where officers later located the vehicle and made contact with Ifamlik, per the same account. Officers reportedly observed a crack on the vehicle's headlight. Ifamlik told police he felt a bump but did not see anything and kept driving, according to the citation — though his wife reportedly told officers he had told her he had just hit someone.
Student Treated for Leg Pain and Skin Injuries
The student was taken to a hospital for treatment after the crash, the report states. She experienced some leg pain and sustained two superficial, red, raw areas of skin erosion with blood on her arm and elbow, per the citation details in the WBKO account. Ronnie Ward, public information officer for the Bowling Green Police Department, is named in the report as a department contact on the case.
Ifamlik was also taken to a hospital, but for evaluation of unrelated health issues, the station notes. He was charged with wanton endangerment in the first degree, leaving the scene of an accident for failure to render aid or assistance, disregarding a traffic regulation by a pedestrian, and fourth-degree assault, according to the same report.
What the Charges Could Mean
Wanton endangerment in the first degree is a Class D felony under Kentucky Revised Statute 508.060, carrying a potential prison term of one to five years upon conviction; it applies when conduct manifests extreme indifference to human life and creates substantial danger of death or serious injury. Fourth-degree assault, filed under Kentucky Revised Statute 508.030, is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 12 months in jail and fines up to $500, according to the Kentucky State Legislature's statutory framework.
Kentucky law also imposes a duty to stop. Under Kentucky Revised Statute 189.580, any driver involved in a crash resulting in personal injury must stop immediately, check on the injured party, render reasonable assistance, and exchange identifying information regardless of fault, according to Thomas Law Offices. Fleeing the scene of an accident involving physical injury can also trigger an administrative driver's license suspension of up to six months through the Kentucky Department of Transportation, per Cooley Iuliano Robey, PLLC.
Part of a Larger Pattern on Kentucky Roads
The crash near Warren Central High School lands amid sobering statewide numbers on pedestrian safety. Kentucky Transportation Center collision data published in 2025 recorded 1,090 pedestrian crashes statewide in 2023, resulting in 125 deaths — more than 15 percent of all Kentucky traffic fatalities, according to research cited by Dickman Law Office. Pedestrians accounted for 37.8 percent of all fatalities from hit-and-run crashes across the state in 2023, the same analysis found, with hit-and-run collisions also causing 119 reported pedestrian injuries statewide that year.
Driver inattention was the leading factor in Kentucky pedestrian crashes in 2023, contributing to 302 incidents, or 27.7 percent, followed by failure to yield the right-of-way in 119 incidents, or 10.9 percent, per the Dickman Law Office data. A federal traffic safety analysis reported in August 2026 ranked Kentucky fifth nationwide for pedestrian deaths caused by distracted drivers, documenting 77 pedestrian fatalities in distracted-driving crashes between 2020 and 2024, according to WNKY News 40.
School Zone Enforcement Underway
Ahead of the 2026–2027 school year, the Bowling Green Police Department announced targeted school zone patrols to enforce speed limits, crosswalk safety, and school bus laws, with officers actively monitoring peak student drop-off times. Warren Central High School sits at 559 Morgantown Road near Dragon Way in Bowling Green, part of Warren County Public Schools with an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, according to background information on the school. The crash occurred along the arterial corridors that surround the campus.
It remains unclear whether an arraignment date has been set for Ifamlik, and Hoodline has not confirmed whether any traffic-calming or crosswalk-signal upgrades are planned for the Dragon Street intersection. The student's updated medical condition beyond her initial treatment has not been reported.
