WATCH: Body camera video shows chaos after car destroys toll booth, hits 5-year-old at Daytona Beach

5-year-old in stable condition at hospital, according to beach safety

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – New body camera video released by Volusia County Beach Safety shows the chaos and damage caused when a car barreled through a toll booth at Daytona Beach and hit a 5-year-old before winding up in the ocean.

The crash happened on Sunday when the driver, suffering from a medical episode, approached the Daytona International Speedway around 5 p.m.

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The video picks up after the crash with a beach safety officer arriving on scene.

In the video, the officer runs over to where the 5-year-old boy is being treated. Another officer who is already treating the boy says in the video that the child has a broken arm and a sucking chest wound.

“I need a helicopter, this kid is a trauma alert,” the man treating the boy can be heard saying in the video.

The pair work to stabilize the boy as more first responders arrive on scene. Eventually, the video shows EMS arrive and take over the boy’s care.

At about 4:50 in the video, the officer wearing the bodycam starts to move down the beach to see where else he can assist. As he walks down the beach toward the water, the remains of the demolished toll booth can be seen scattered on the sand.

The officer then starts assisting with crowd control, asking people to move back away from the scene. He then goes to help police tape off the area.

In addition to the boy, four people inside the car were taken to the hospital.

According to a Volusia County Beach Safety incident report, a woman in the car tried to remove the driver’s foot from the accelerator during his medical episode — which beach safety believes may have been a seizure — but she was only able to steer through traffic during the incident.

Surveillance video from a beachside hotel showed the moment the car slammed into the booth.

The 5-year-old boy’s father, Hugo Alamos, told News 6 on Wednesday he and his son were home. While the boy was in the hospital, he received stitches after sustaining major cuts down his arm and chest.

The driver was cited for careless driving and an investigation is ongoing, beach officials said.

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About the Author

Thomas Mates is a digital storyteller for News 6 and ClickOrlando.com. He also produces the podcast Florida Foodie. Thomas is originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania and worked in Portland, Oregon before moving to Central Florida in August 2018. He graduated from Temple University with a degree in Journalism in 2010.

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