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Parade accident

Witnesses describe the scene

Jeff Brady on the driver's arrest

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OVERTON, Texas — An elderly driver who hurtled through barricades into a crowd lined up for a Christmas parade Monday and injured several people, has been arrested and charged with reckless driving.

Charles Lacy George, 83, of Troupe, Texas, injured eight members of a Cub Scout troop and two adult volunteers.

All but two of the boys have been treated and released from hospital.

One boy was airlifted to Dallas to Children's Medical Center with a broken leg.

The other boy, 7-year-old Colby Brookes, is in serious condition at Mother Frances Hospital in nearby Tyler.

His parents released a statement today thanking doctors and nurses for their care, as well as those praying for Colby.

Police in Overton gave a press conference this morning saying George has bonded out and surrendered his driver's license as a condition of his release. No alcohol was involved.

"It happened very quickly," said Overton City Manager B.J. Potts. "There are still a lot of questions."

Eleven-year-old Toby Melton talked to the KLTV in Tyler after being released from the hospital for a knee injury.

"I was asking this one lady for a piece of gum, and she said 'yeah,' and I turned around and a truck started coming towards us real fast," he told the television station. "It was real scary, frightening."

His mother, Nancy Melton, said the scene was chaotic as parents rushed to find their children.

Rusk County Justice of the Peace Jerdy Wolverton said he was nearby when he heard a noise and people screaming.

"There were kids on the ground, some sitting up, one or two standing. ... All I heard was a lot of bumping noises and screaming, and everyone was on the ground and there was a truck there," Wolverton told the Longview News-Journal.

Overton is a town of 2,300 people about 120 miles southeast of Dallas.

Associated Press contributed to this report.