BROCKTON — Once Yainira Boria realized she had hit some children as she tried to drive around a school bus Thursday morning, the 38-year-old Brockton woman allegedly told police she stopped her car and got out to give them “kisses like a mommy,” according to a police report filed in court.
But after she said she gave one child a hug and kissed others on their thumbs and their knees, police said she got back into the car and drove away, only to be arrested about 90 minutes later allegedly drinking a Genesee Ice beer outside a food mart on Legion Parkway.
Boria, who was distraught, appeared before Judge Ronald Moynahan in Brockton District Court late Thursday and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation at Tewksbury Hospital. Defense attorney John Pavlos said that Boria has schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder and had not taken her medication for at least a week.
She is charged with three counts of leaving the scene of personal injury, using a motor vehicle without authority, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and drinking in public. Boria is scheduled to return to court on June 5.
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Her mother, 54-year-old Lydia Boria, who attended the court proceeding, said her daughter is mentally ill and apologized to the parents of the children who were hurt.
“I apologize to the parents of the babies,” Boria said in an interview. “I’m so sorry for my daughter for what happened.”
At about 8:08 a.m., an 8-year-old girl and two boys, 6 and 8, were hit by a red Honda with New Jersey license plates when they tried to cross Warren Avenue to board a school bus, said police and school officials.
The children were taken to Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital to be treated for injuries not believed to be life-threatening, officials said.
Witnesses at the scene said they saw a young boy strapped to a backboard being loaded into an ambulance and a girl crying as her finger was put in a splint. The school bus remained in the street, its stop sign and crossing arm out and red lights flashing.
Injuries to the girl, who was hit by the front of the vehicle, were more severe than to the two boys, who were hit by its side, said Mayor Bill Carpenter of Brockton. The children were en route to Brookfield Elementary School when the incident occurred.
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“Thankfully, it’s mostly cuts and bruises, but very, very scary” said Brockton public schools spokeswoman Jocelyn Meek.
A witness told investigators the bus did not have its stop sign out when the car drove past, a police report said.
The bus driver said the sign was out, the report said.
A witness, Claudia Tavares, told police the driver stopped, exited her car, carried one of the children to the sidewalk, and said she was going to pull over in a gas station parking lot, but drove away instead, the report said.
At about 9:33 a.m., a police officer spotted the car in the parking lot on Legion Parkway, where Boria was seen exiting R&K Food Mart holding a large can of beer, authorities said.
Boria initially denied having any role in the crash, saying she does not have a license, the report said. She later told police that she struck the children as she was driving around the bus when it stopped to let the students on, the report said. She said the bus did not have its lights on and claimed she did not hit the children hard, the report said.
Boria has never had a Massachusetts driver’s license, and the Registry of Motor Vehicles revoked her right to operate a motor vehicle indefinitely after the crash, said Michael Verseckes, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
Police allege that Boria took the car she was driving without permission from a man she had met the night before.
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Kelvin Raines told police he met Boria Wednesday night and went drinking with her before returning to his room at West Elm Hotel, the report said. When he woke, Raines said Boria, his car, and room keys were gone, the report said.
Another person who was in the car with Boria at the time of the accident fled, the report said.
In court, Pavlos said Boria was despondent and discussed committing suicide and hearing voices. The voices belonged to someone she referred to as “my friend,” Pavlos said.
“She talked about hearing voices to hurt herself and other people,” he said.
Dr. Ann Marie Murray, who testified about Boria’s competency in court, said she has a history of alcohol and crack cocaine abuse and recently suffered a near-fatal overdose. Her mother traces Boria’s difficulty to meningitis and yellow fever she suffered when she was 2 years old, Murray said.
In 2006, Boria was convicted of a second offense of distributing cocaine and was sentenced to five years in prison, court records show.
Evan Allen of the Globe staff, and correspondents Jacqueline Tempera and George Rizer contributed to this report. Laura Crimaldi can be reached at [email protected].