Driver Charged After Striking Teen In Police Chase
ABERDEEN, Md. (WJZ) -- A 16-year-old narrowly avoided death when he was struck by a car fleeing police in Harford County.
Derek Valcourt spoke with the teen, who was just released from the hospital.
It was a bizarre police chase. The suspect's vehicle hit a teen and at least two other cars while trying to get away. That teen, Joseph Paramore, knows his injuries could have been a lot worse.
"Pretty lucky," he said.
Fresh out of the hospital and laid up in bed with a broken femur, scrapes on his hand and crutches by his side, Paramore is in a little pain but remembers everything that happened Sunday night as he rode his skateboard home from a friend's house.
That's when a car being chased by Aberdeen Police came flying down the normally quiet Edmund Street, right by Paramore.
"I hear sirens and then I turn around and I see a car and I see him swerving," he said. "I get hit, I go in the air, I roll a few times and somehow I end up on the grass."
Aberdeen Police say it started when officers tried to stop Asim Lievers, 31, for speeding along Route 7. The chase passed behind Wal-Mart and eventually into Paramore's neighborhood. After striking him, the car kept going.
"The pursuing officer continued and one officer who was in the area with her stopped and rendered aid," said Fred Budnick, Aberdeen Police.
As the pursuit continued, the suspect's car struck a police car and then hit another vehicle, injuring its one passenger, before Lievers was finally arrested.
"To have hit a child and to keep going, it makes me wonder about his character," said Joseph's mother, Mary Paramore.
She calls her son's survival a miracle.
Joseph Paramore also has a few choice words for the guy who hit him.
"I feel like he's really stupid. He could have just pulled over and none of this would have happened," he said.
Paramore may have to have surgery on his foot.
Lievers faces multiple charges, including assault and dozens of traffic violations. He's being held on $35,000 bond.
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