Iowa police say a woman has been charged with attempted murder after she admitted to running down a 14-year-old girl with her SUV because the victim was "a Mexican."
Nicole Franklin, 42, of Des Moines, admitted to intentionally driving over the teenager with her 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee and leaving the scene shortly before 5 p.m. on Dec. 9 near Indian Hills Junior High School in Clive, Iowa, Clive Police Chief Michael Venema said during a news conference Friday morning.
Police say the victim survived, but she sustained "numerous injuries." KCCI reports that the victim has been released from the hospital.
Police tracked Franklin down after identifying the vehicle involved in the near fatal crash. Franklin not only confessed to striking the teenager down with her vehicle, but also made a "number of derogatory statements about Latinos" while officers were interviewing her, the Clive Police Department said in a news release.
"I want to say, in the strongest terms possible, that there is no place in our community (or any other) for this type of hatred and violence," Venema wrote in the release. "We are committed to stand by and support this family and work diligently with them to seek justice."
Franklin faces an attempted murder charge as well as a number of other charges related to a racially-charged incident that occurred 15 minutes later. The Polk County Attorney's Office is working with detectives on whether additional charges should be filed. A number of groups, including the Des Moines' chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens have called for hate crimes charges against the woman.
Venema appeared to leave the door open to additional hate crime charges during the news conference on Friday.
"That's something we are certainly looking into," Venema said.
Photo: Clive Police Department