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GREENSBORO — A boy playing along a creek suffered critical injuries when he was struck by a van driven by a man who has been charged with DWI.

About 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, a black Chevrolet van driven by Michael Charles Parks was heading north on South Lindell Road when it ran through a stop sign at Walker Avenue, police said.

The van narrowly missed a telephone pole as it went off the road to the left, down a small hill and hit a tree at the edge of the creek.

The van hit one of two boys playing there. The second boy was unhurt.

The name of the injured boy, who is between the ages of 10 and 13, was unavailable Tuesday evening. He was taken to Moses Cone Hospital and then transferred to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Police said he was in critical condition.

Police put handcuffs on Parks and led him from the scene. He was taken to Wesley Long Hospital with only minor injuries.

Police on Wednesday said Parks, 40, of 3803 Parkwood Drive, has been charged with driving while intoxicated and driving with a revoked license. His bond information was unavailable Wednesday.

Parks has been charged before with driving without a license and driving while impaired.

In July, he was convicted of driving with his license revoked and hit and run. In May, a 2007 charge of driving while impaired was dismissed, according to court records.

Parks could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

There were no skid marks on the road and no signs that the van tried to stop before it left the road.

Neighbors said it is common for neighborhood children to play along the creek. The neighbors said they heard no sounds until a loud crash.

The crash left trees in splinters along the edge of the creek, which is several feet wide at that point.

Broken glass was strewn through the nearly stagnant and very shallow creek at the point of the crash, a dozen or so yards from Wendover Avenue.

The police department’s crash reconstruction unit was investigating the crash Tuesday night.
Anyone with information about the crash should call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000.

Contact John Newsom at 373-7312 or at john.newsom@news-record.com

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jason.hardin@news-record.com