CLIVE, IOWA – An Iowa woman allegedly intentionally used her car to run down a child who was walking on a sidewalk and told police she did it because of the girl’s race.
On December 9, shortly before 5pm, a 14 year old girl was walking on the sidewalk on her way to an activity at Indian Hills Jr. High School. A vehicle left the roadway and ran the girl over. She suffered numerous injuries. The driver and vehicle left the scene without rendering aid to the girl. Earlier, the Clive Police Department requested the public’s help in locating the driver. At that time it appeared to be a hit and run accident.
Yesterday, the Clive Police Department identified the driver of the suspect vehicle as Nicole Marie Poole Franklin, 42, of Des Moines. Detectives interviewed her in the Polk County Jail, where she was being held on other charges. During the interview Franklin not only admitted to being the driver of the car that struck this girl, but also that she had done so intentionally. Franklin told investigators that she ran the girl over because she was, in her words, “a Mexican”. She went on to make a number of derogatory statements about Latinos to the investigators.
Franklin was charged with Attempted Murder and is currently being held in the Polk County Jail. Our detectives will continue to gather information for the Polk County Attorney’s office to assist them with their prosecution.
Clive police say the family of the victim requests privacy while dealing with this new information. In a statement, the department also said, “in the strongest terms possible, that there is no place in our community (or any other) for this type of hatred and violence. We are committed to stand by and support this family and work diligently with them to seek justice.”