Philadelphia Police Searching For Driver Who Hit 6-Year-Old Boy, Checked On Him Before Fleeing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia police are looking for the driver of a minivan who they say initially stopped after a child ran into the side of his vehicle as he was driving on Saturday, but then the driver fled. Police say that crash happened at 6th and West Erie Streets.
The driver got out to see if that 6-year-old boy was OK before then driving away.
Security video captured the heart-pounding moments a boy is seen crossing the 600 block of Erie Avenue with his sisters when he runs forward and into the side of a van.
It happened just after 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 15.
Several people rushed to the boy, and the driver even stopped to get out and check on him. But the driver then got back into the van and drove off.
"At least he got out and checked on the child before he left the scene. However, as I said before, he didn't commit a crime when he hit the child. Obviously, it wasn't intentional. But when you leave the scene you do commit a crime," Philadelphia Police Cpt. Mark Overwise said.
Police described the vehicle as a light-colored minivan with significant damage to the passenger's side door. It also had a temporary New Jersey paper tag of "005-218T."
Police have not yet found the driver's identity.
"The van is pretty easily identifiable. I'm confident we'll be able to locate this person. But I encourage them to themselves in," Overwise said.
Eyewitness News spoke with a witness who says they are still dealing with the trauma of what they saw.
"We give the driver the benefit of the doubt. That benefit of the doubt is not going to last very long," Overwise said.
Police also want to remind drivers to slow down.
"Summertime is coming, pandemic restrictions are being lifted little by little and there's a lot more pedestrian traffic, a lot more traffic out there than there was just a week ago. We urge all drivers to use caution and look out for juveniles and other pedestrians like this," Overwise said.
If you recognize the van or know who the driver is, you're urged to contact detectives.
