A Wadesboro man has been charged with child abuse after his 5-year-old son was injured last Monday when the child fell out of a moving vehicle and was run over.

Curtis Lamar Smith II faces child abuse charges, as well as a child restraint violation and failure to change the address on his license within 30 days, Wadesboro Police Chief Janie Schutz said.

The accident occurred last Monday, May 4, when Smith was traveling westbound on Highway 74 (Salisbury Street) in a 1995 Ford Aerostar van. Smith attempted to make a left turn onto Madison Avenue. "The driver stated that the passenger side door opened and the seat belt came off of the child and the child fell out of the vehicle," Chief Schutz said. "As he's falling, the child grabs a hold of the seat belt and he held on as long as he could before he let go. At that point, he was dragged for a few feet and then the back tire of the van rolled over the abdominal area of the child."

Anson County EMS transported the child to Anson Community Hospital. He was later airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. "I know that when they left here, even though he was airlifted by helicopter, there were not any internal injuries," Chief Schutz said.

Public information officials at Carolinas Medical Center had no information on the child's condition Tuesday morning.