PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A 9-year-old boy is recovering after being struck by a hit-and-run driver near his Southwest Philadelphia home Saturday afternoon.
The boy’s mother is now pleading for the driver to come forward.
“Turn yourself in, take accountability. That’s all I’m asking,” Kimyetta Demby said.
The crash happened around 12:22 p.m. Saturday on the 2200 block of South 56th Street, as the boy was walking home from the store. A neighbor’s Ring camera video captured the moments leading up to the crash.
“He had crossed the street and the car had come flying around the corner and hit him and then backed up and then went around him, tried to hit my uncle and pulled off,” Demby said.
Demby said she ran outside after hearing shouting.
“When I heard my uncle screaming I came to the door and that’s when I seen the commotion,” she said.
Neighbors who witnessed the crash said the sound was unforgettable.
“During the collision all you heard is doom. Two to three seconds later you hear him cry,” one neighbor said. “It’s a sickening sound.”
The video shows the boy falling to the ground before he was struck. His mother said he slipped on ice moments before impact, which may have prevented more serious injuries.
“I’m lucky that he slid because had he been standing up in the middle of the street still crossing, he probably would have flew, came down, cracked his neck or something like that,” Demby said.
The boy suffered a broken femur, cuts and bruises, and facial injuries. He was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He has since returned home and faces months of physical therapy.
Neighbors said they were shocked the driver did not stop.
“Who in the world would just leave a boy in the middle of the street like that,” one neighbor asked. “Karma has a way of finding people like you.”
Police described the vehicle as a mostly burgundy 2010-2013 Honda Crosstour with a black passenger-side fender, green front passenger door, white rear passenger door and a bicycle rack on the roof. The driver is described as a male between 25 and 35 years old with short hair and a beard.
Demby said the experience has been overwhelming but is grateful her son survived.
“He just has a broken leg, a bunch of bruises, his face is messed up like bad. His back too,” she said. “It’s stressful. But I’m lucky that it wasn’t worse than what it is.”
Police urge anyone with information to contact investigators.
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