PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 3-year-old boy was hit by an SUV and a truck in a hit-and-run in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia Thursday night.
Around 9 p.m. at 33rd Street and Susquehanna Avenue, a mother and other family members were about to put the toddler into their car, but the boy ran off into the street, police said.
The boy was then struck by a blue SUV, followed by a white pickup truck; both drivers kept going, investigators said. Police say the SUV, pictured below, was last seen on 32nd and Diamond streets.
Officers responded to the scene and took the child to the hospital.
“This little boy is extremely lucky because he was conscious and he is in stable condition,” said Chief Inspector Scott Small. “He has scratches and bruises to his head and face.”
The boy was released from the hospital early Friday morning.
A man who works in the neighborhood said drivers often speed recklessly, at times even blowing through the light at the intersection.
“What we’re dealing with today, it’s just ridiculous,” he said. “How people just don’t care and our children always got to suffer for what somebody — an adult or somebody older — would do.”
Police are looking at surveillance footage in the neighborhood to try to identify and find the drivers involved in the hit-and-run.
“It’s very, very, very cowardly to strike a little boy and then flee the scene,” Small said. “You should remain on scene and render aid, and then this is just an accident. But once you flee the scene, now you’re looking at some serious charges.”