A 4-year-old Philadelphia boy was eating ice cream as he crossed the street when a speeding driver barreled into him and dragged him down the roadway before fleeing the scene, police said.
The hit-and-run crash happened around 9:25 p.m. Sunday on the 6600 block of Keystone Street in the Tacony neighborhood, Philadelphia Police Department Accident Investigation District Capt. Mark Overwise said. The driver was last seen fleeing north on Keystone Street.
The family and friends of the boy, Christopher Currid, said they were at a friend's house when Christopher and other children spotted the ice cream truck, which parked across the street and raised its stop sign.
As the kids were walking, the driver ran through the stop sign and barreled over Christopher in front of his father, he told NBC10.
The ice cream tuck had been double parked on the two-way street and the driver tried going around it when he or she struck the boy, Overwise said.
“When you hit something or someone, you have a responsibility to stop and render aid, and that’s what this driver failed to do, obviously – kept on going and for that there’s gonna be trouble,” he added.
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The father, Bobby Currid, tried to chase after the driver, but the vehicle turned onto nearby Interstate 95.
“I chased after the car and then I turned around and realized my baby was on the ground bleeding, and I picked him up and I ran to the firehouse with him," a tearful Bobby Currid said.
The firehouse happened to be across the street, and from there paramedics rushed Christopher to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was listed in critical condition and placed in an induced coma.
Both family and friends pleaded for the driver to be apprehended.
“Whatever happens happens, but you just can’t leave it alone. You just hit the kid and just left him in the middle of the street," said family friend William Kennedy. "If that was your kid, would you just leave him in the middle of the street? I wouldn’t leave the kid in the middle of the street; that’s not right."
Police described the hit-and-run vehicle as a silver Honda Accord with tinted windows. On Tuesday, they released surveillance video of the car.
Overwise said deadly traffic accidents are up this year in the city.
“Last year we had 85 total traffic fatalities in Philadelphia, not including the interstate highways, which we don’t cover. This year we have 75 and it’s only August," he said.
The captain added that the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5 is now offering $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
"If you have kids, please, turn yourself in please," Bobby Currid said while in tears. "Do the right thing. Please, I don't wish this on anyone, my worst enemies. Please just do the right thing."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Philadelphia Police Department.
