A medical episode led to a pickup hitting the St. John Child Development Center on North Columbia Avenue Jan. 31.
Around 1:50 p.m., Seward Police Chief Brian Peters said, Stanley Roebke and his wife Jenny were northbound on Columbia near Weller Hall on the Concordia University campus when Roebke suffered a medical episode. The 2016 Ford F150 drove onto the east curb and hit a fire hydrant and light pole, which sent the truck across the street where it hit the west curb and veered onto the St. John Lutheran Church lawn.
The truck hit another fire hydrant then then struck a 2015 Toyota Corolla which was facing east at the intersection of Columbia and Hillcrest Avenue.
The truck continued northbound across Hillcrest and into the CDC parking lot, went through the landscaping and through the south wall of the building.
The room the truck entered had eight children napping, along with their teacher. The teacher, Allison Troester, and one child were transported to Seward Memorial Hospital. The driver of the Corolla, Alexander Nitz, and both Roebkes were also transported to SMH. Stanley Roebke was then taken to Bryan West in Lincoln.
Troester, the child, Nitz and Jenny Roebke were treated and released.
“You think about how tragic it could have been,” Peters said. “The angels were watching out for the little ones.”
The Seward Police Department and Seward Volunteer Fire Department evacuated the children and teachers to St. John Lutheran Church, Peters said. The Seward County Sheriff and City Codes Director Tim Dworak were also on scene.
The Nebraska State Patrol assisted, as well.
Pastor Scott Bruick, pastoral leader at St. John Lutheran Church, posted on Facebook later that afternoon that all the students and staff were safe.
“Our prayers are for the occupants of the vehicles involved, along with prayers for our staff and students,” he wrote.
Peters said the place the truck hit avoided major structural damage.
“It missed the support beams and the fire suppression system,” he said.
The intersection was closed to traffic for several hours, Peters said. Because of the time the investigation took, the church and school were able to bring in plywood and, once the truck was removed, immediately began boarding up the hole and securing the building.
“Everybody understood and followed our directions,” Peters said of rerouting traffic around a busy intersection at the end of a school day.
The CDC was closed on Feb. 3 for repairs and “the care of our staff and families,” its Facebook page said.
