A 12-year-old boy was hit while riding his bike to school Monday
morning, but suffered only minor injuries, police said.
A 12-year-old boy was hit while riding his bike to school Monday morning, but suffered only minor injuries, police said.
The boy, whose name police withheld because he was a juvenile, was riding east along the north side of Third Street about 7:58 a.m. when he went to cross Church Street, police said.
A silver pickup truck that had been traveling southbound came to a stop, but then started back up and struck the boy, knocking him to the ground, according to statements to police made by a witness who would not give his name.
“It happened just like in slow motion,” said the man, who was in a vehicle following the silver pickup truck when the incident occurred.
After the collision, the driver of the silver pickup exited the vehicle and went to help the boy, the man said. The boy got up right away, but police took him to a local hospital for precautionary measures, police said.
He was released later that day.
Due to the involved vehicle blocking the street, traffic was tied up for more than 30 minutes, residents said.
The boy was in a crosswalk and had the right of way, but police have not given a citation or arrested the driver, Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said. However, the incident is still under investigation.
Police did not know what grade the boy is in or what school he attends. South Valley Middle School is located three blocks east of where the incident occurred and Brownell Middle School is located three blocks west.
The incident marks the fifth time a child has been hit during the past year and a half.
Four of these children were on their way to or from school and two of these children died – 5-year-old Brayan Trejo at the intersection of Church and 10th streets and 5-year-old Julio Gonzalez at the intersection of Welburn and Kern avenues.
Police identified environmental distractions and lack of attentiveness as factors in some of these incidents.
These factors were again present in Monday’s incident, the unidentified man said.
“Somebody wasn’t paying attention, whether it was the driver or the kid,” he said.
