Woman Jailed After Campsite Crash, Child Injured

    A North Carolina woman is facing charges after an incident in a forested area near Deerhaven. Sarah Smith, 33, of High Point, was taken into custody after a child was involved in a traffic crash around a campsite area off Clay Lake Road.
    Lake County Sheriff’s Office reports state deputies responded to the remote area of Northeast Lake County in reference to an assault and possible battery with a deadly weapon. Upon arrival, they met with two male subjects, one of which reported being a passenger in a vehicle that Smith was driving that had crashed. He had a laceration on his head. Officers walked down a trail to find Smith sitting in a chair at a campsite, with injuries to her face. She advised she was alone at the campsite. Further down the trail, deputies found Smith’s vehicle, bearing a Utah tag, that had been involved in an accident with multiple trees. A large crack was found on the passenger side windshield, with blood and hair in the area matching the first male victim’s. There was also blood on the driver’s side of the vehicle.
    Further on the trail, deputies talked with two witnesses who stated that Smith had been drinking during the day and had been in a verbal altercation with them before she left in the vehicle, and hitting multiple trees in their campsite. They said there had been a child in the vehicle, spurring even further investigation.
    Deputies returned to Smith’s campsite and asked about the child, with Smith saying the youngster was asleep in a camper and she didn’t want the child disturbed. She also denied driving the vehicle at the time it was crashed.
    After further efforts to prevent the child from being examined, paramedics at the scene found the child with fresh blood and an injury to the head, with tremors. The child was transported to Central Florida Regional hospital for the trauma to her head.
    Further investigation found a child seat in the vehicle, but it was unsecured.
    Smith was jailed on charges of child abuse by intentional act, domestic, child neglect, domestic, and resisting without violence.