PICKUP CRASHES INTO CAPE PRESCHOOL

Kim Hagler was glad it was her day to cook for the children of A Step at a Time Preschool, 1003 Perry.

Had she not been cooking, she would have been in her office doing paperwork at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. That's when Hubert Whitworth, 63, of Cape Girardeau crashed through the wall in his pickup truck.

"I was on my way from the kitchen back to the office," Hagler said. "He crashed through the window and then drove off down the street. He looked dazed."

Hagler said she jotted down his license plate number and called 911.

"The whole place just shook," said Jodie Kimbel, another preschool employee. "I went back to call 911 and ask one of the girls how he was doing. They said he was gone. He had backed out and driven away."

Kimbel said some of the children were on the same level where the truck crashed through the building, but they weren't injured.

"Most of the children were downstairs taking a nap," she said.

Shawnnett Williams, a preschool employee, was driving into the parking lot when Whitworth crashed into the building.

"When he drove off I followed him in my car," she said.

Williams said she saw Whitworth drive down New Madrid and finally crash his truck into a tree near Penny Street.

"He looked disoriented," she said. "I went up to him. He was still in the truck, and I told him to stay there."

The front of the preschool building sustained significant damage. Support posts and the front overhang were leaning to one side. Firefighters and police marked off the area where a large window was broken and the truck crashed through the wall scattering bricks.

Whitworth was taken into custody and charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Whitworth told police he passed out before hitting the preschool and the tree.

After leaving the police station Wednesday afternoon, Whitworth was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital where he underwent a surgical procedure. A hospital spokesperson wouldn't comment on the procedure or Whitworth's diagnosis.