A boy riding a bike was struck by a pickup truck and the driver is in custody after witnesses say he tried to flee on foot before being badly beaten by a small crowd.
The 12-year-old boy was riding a bike on South 8th Street and West Oregon Avenue in Philadelphia around 4:10 p.m. Wednesday when he was struck by a black Dodge pickup truck that had made a U-turn, police said. Surveillance video obtained by NBC10 shows the boy riding in a traffic lane and popping a wheelie before being hit by the vehicle.
“I could hear him crying,” Ana Godoy, a neighbor, told NBC10. “That’s why I had to cover my eyes. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Witnesses said the boy was caught in the vehicle’s tire and dragged to Oregon Avenue and Darien Street as six other young people on bikes followed the pickup truck.
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“I’m traumatized,” Linda Handy, a neighbor, told NBC10. “He was 13 but looked seven. He was tiny. And a lot of damage.”
While a passenger remained inside, the 59-year-old driver of the vehicle got out and fled on foot towards 8th and Shunk streets where he was attacked by a small crowd, according to witnesses.
“From what I understood, the kids on the bike chased the dude down and beat him and grabbed him until the cops got there,” Brian O’Donnell of South Philadelphia told NBC10.
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Both the boy and the driver were taken to the hospital. The boy later posted on Instagram that he was recovering. The driver meanwhile, remains in critical condition. Police said he will be charged with DUI and other related offenses.
Police are also working to identify the people who attacked the driver following the crash.
