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Fishtown Hit-And-Run Suspect Turns Himself In To Police

By Todd Quinones

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police have arrested the man accused in a hit-and-run that injured a young girl in Fishtown.

23-year-old Charles Mulhern of Mayfair turned himself in to police around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

Police say Mulhern was driving the vehicle that struck 10-year-old Sarah Givens around 2:30 p.m. on March 7th at Memphis and York Streets. Givens suffered a severe leg injury as a result.

"It was really, really scary," Givens said.

Givens was one of two sisters struck in separate hit-and-run incidents. In a bizarre coincidence, Givens' 14-year-old sister, Kylie, was also allegedly struck by a car just three days later (see related story).

Mulhern's attorney, Joe Kelly, says his client has admitted he was the one driving the white SUV seen on surveillance video when Givens was hit, but says Mulhern tells him he didn't realize he hit someone, a claim even he finds hard to believe.

"I find that as a person besides a lawyer hard to believe," Kelly said. "If you run over a pothole you know it, and if you run over a person I think you know it."

Kelly said he first contacted police over the weekend, after Mulhern called him. He says he isn't sure why his client didn't stop.

"That's something you'll have to figure out from him," Kelly said. "I don't know. That's a bad decision. That's a 23-year-old kid that never had contact with police. He made a bad decision."

Givens' father is relieved a suspect is in custody.

"We're grateful someone has come forward," James Givens said.

Sarah's older sister Kylie remains hospitalized with broken ribs and a ruptured spleen, which had to be removed after she was hit by a white sedan with tinted windows at Torresdale and Cheltenham Avenues.

"My daughter is suffering," Givens said. "She's in the hospital. She can't get out of bed. She's in a lot of pain, and I want the person to think 'wow what if that was one of my kids."

No suspect has been arrested in Kylie's case.

Mulhern was expected to remain locked up overnight. He faces numerous charges, which could include leaving the scene of an accident.

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