Truck Swerves To Avoid Dog, Fatally Hits 10-Year-Old Boy Chasing After It
TORRANCE (CBSLA) — A 10-year-old boy was fatally struck by a pickup truck that had swerved to avoid hitting a dog in Torrance Monday night.
The crash was reported just before 9 p.m. in the 2300 block of Del Amo Boulevard. The driver of a 2018 black Ford pickup truck was going eastbound on that busy stretch of Del Amo when a dog darted into the street. He swerved to avoid hitting the dog – but instead hit the boy, who was chasing after the dog.
"I can't get over it," neighbor Cheryll Klein said, crying. "It's just breaking my heart."
The boy was treated at the scene by firefighters but succumbed to the major injuries he sustained. Authorities have withheld his name as they try to reach other members of his family.
Klein said the boy was good friends with her own son, and she doesn't know how she's going to tell him that his friend is gone.
"I know it's going to be shocking to him," she said.
The driver, a 58-year-old man from Los Angeles, and his passenger were not hurt in the crash. They stayed at the scene and tried to help the boy, and neighbors say the driver was crying.
Police say drugs, alcohol or excessive speed were not a factor in the crash.
The eastbound and westbound lanes of El Amo Boulevard between Crenshaw Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue were shut down during the investigation.