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GREENSBORO — A car ran off the road and into a water spillway near the Summerfield town limits Wednesday night, injuring a mother and her two small children.

The youngest victim, 2-month-old William Cediel, is scheduled to have surgery today at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for head injuries after he was thrown from the car, Greensboro police said. A hospital spokeswoman said at noon Thursday that the infant is in critical condition.

His older sister, 3-year-old Lilly Cediel, was treated at Moses Cone Hospital for what police said were minor injuries.

Greensboro police said charges are pending against the car's driver and the mother of the two injured children. Aimee Cediel, 37, told police she swerved to avoid hitting an animal, but police think alcohol was involved. Police said Cediel's charges will depend on the results of an SBI blood test and the outcome of her son's surgery. Cediel has been released from Cone, police said.

Police said Cediel has addresses in both Greensboro and Ridgeway, Va., which is across the state line from Eden.

According to police, a gray 2007 Mazda 3 was traveling north on Battleground Avenue near the bridge across a section of Lake Higgins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The car ran off the road and down a small embankment, falling about 20 feet into water under the bridge, said David Douglas, the Greensboro Fire Department's assistant fire chief.

The car landed in about 4 feet of water. The driver and another child were rescued on the opposite side of the bridge, where the water was more shallow. Douglas said the infant boy was found on the side of the road near the path that the car traveled into the water.

The wreck happened between 4234 Battleground Ave. and the intersection of Hamburg Mill Road in Summerfield, just past the Center for Creative Leadership.

Staff writer Sonja Elmquist contributed to this report.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com