by Neal Putnam / Peninsula Beacon / Sept. 15, 2025
A judge has denied bail to an driver who allegedly struck a 5-year-old girl while driving recklessly onto a pedestrian path in the Liberty Station area, causing the girl to be rushed to a hospital for a traumatic head injury.
Savannah Monique Taylor, 21, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 10 to two felony drunk driving charges involving the Sept. 6 incident that injured the girl while she was riding a scooter.
The girl was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital for emergency brain surgery. One charge said she had become comatose due to a brain injury.
A prosecutor told San Diego Superior Court Judge Rod Shelton that Taylor had two prior alcohol-related cases, and one involved physical injuries to a family member for which Taylor had been free on bond.
That is when Shelton revoked her bail.
Taylor had driven a BMW onto a pedestrian path near the USS Recruit in Point Loma. The vehicle struck plants, a steel bench, and then hit the little girl on the scooter, officers said. A near-empty bottle of Hennessy was found inside her car.
[The Rag had earlier reported that the incident occurred close to the entrance to the Naval Base across the road based on mainstream news reports.]
Another hearing was set for Sept. 18, and a preliminary hearing for Sept. 23. Her attorney will likely try to get bail set. For now, she remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility.
Any updates on the little girl? Is she recovering?