UPDATED: 2:09 p.m.
The boy’s father, Bobby Currid, returned to the scene of the hit-and-run Monday morning, at Keystone Street near Magee Avenue. He was at a family member’s house on the block with his three children the night before. With tears in his eyes, he recounted how an innocent act of getting a popsicle for his son, Christopher, changed his world forever.
Police say around 9 p.m., the boy was crossing the street in front of a double-parked ice cream truck when an SUV, possibly a Cadillac Escalade, sped down the road and hit him.
Currid said the car may have been going 40 miles per hour down the street. He said the car threw Christopher about 10 feet.
“I chased after the car, and I turned around and realized my baby was on the ground bleeding,” he sobbed.
Currid then took his unconscious son across the street to the Engine 38 firehouse. He was rushed to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children with head injuries.
He is still listed in critical condition.
“You see an ice cream truck, you know there’s kids there,” Currid said. “It says on the back of it ‘STOP,’ and (the driver) blew right through it.”
The block where Christopher was hit is relatively residential. Cars are parked on both sides of the road. On one side, there are rowhomes. On the other, a firehouse and a grassy area by I-95.
The neighborhood, which is close to the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, often has drivers flying through it. Residents like Leigh Knappick are sick and tired of it.
“I don’t know why everybody’s in such a rush, but a 4-year-old child is more important than whatever time you’re gonna save by going faster,” she said. “The noise that I hear, the fires squealing constantly — it really does need to change. There’s so many kids playing in the park and along the street.”
Bill Kennedy, Currid’s friend, was so upset by the incident that he went door to door in the neighborhood to see if anyone had surveillance footage.
“This is just crazy. Somebody just hit a little kid and leave him lying in the middle of the street,” he said. “That’s wrong.”
Police are still searching for the driver of the SUV. They say it was silver, but family members say it was dark-colored with tinted windows. They are pleading the driver to turn himself or herself in.
“What I’m going through right now — watching my baby lying in bed and I’m helpless — I can’t do nothing about it,” Currid wept. “It’s not right, man.”
Police ask anyone with information about the hit-and-run to give them a call at 215-686-TIPS. Investigators are hoping surveillance footage from the neighborhood will lead to a break in the case.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the driver. Police say the driver faces some pretty serious charges for not stopping.
“Do the right thing, please,” Currid begged. “My son’s at St. Christopher’s fighting for his life right now. Please, do the right thing.”
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