5-year-old on scooter hit by suspected drunken driver

A 5-year-old girl was critically injured Saturday afternoon near Liberty Station when a woman suspected of driving drunk drove onto a closed park pathway, hit a steel bench and then struck the child as she rode a scooter, police said.

San Diego police said they arrested the 21-year-old driver, who was suspected of driving a 2018 BMW on the pathway off Laning Road south of North Harbor Drive shortly after 4:30 p.m. The path is near a Navy base, police said.

After the vehicle hit the bench and the child, the car slammed into a tree, police said.

The injured girl was transported to a hospital with life-threatening head injuries, police said.

A police spokesperson said traffic officers are handling the investigation.