Charles Co. Hit-and-Run Suspect Out on Bond

LA PLATA, Md. - A woman accused in a hit-and-run accident that injured four children was released from jail on bond Wednesday.

A Charles County judge granted 29-year-year-old Jacqueline Simmons $50,000 bond, and she walked out of jail after her mother posted the money.

Simmons was headed to a methadone clinic in Waldorf when she veered off the roadway and onto a sidewalk into a group of children waiting for a school bus, prosecutors say.

Four boys were injured in the incident. Three of them -- a 4-year-old, 9-year-old and 10-year-old -- are recovering from their injuries. A 17-year-old boy is also recovering.

Simmons is charged with driving while impaired and failure to stop after an injury accident.

At her court hearing, prosecutors revealed that she had previous convictions for driving under the influence and hit-and-run.

Simmons' mother told the judge that her daughter is battling a methadone addiction and that her daughter could move in with her until her trial.

The injured were among more than a dozen people waiting for a school bus bound for Charles County's Walter J. Mitchell Elementary School.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)