Hit-And-Run Driver To Be Charged In 8-Year-Old's Death
DETROIT (WWJ) - A 49-year-old man is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday after police say he confessed to running over an 8-year-old boy who was riding his bicycle on the city's west side.
According to police, Darrin Wilhite was riding his bike near West Chicago and Abington around 7 p.m. Tuesday when he was struck by a red SUV.
After the collision, police say the suspect continued driving westbound on West Chicago with the child and bike pinned under his vehicle. The child dislodged from the vehicle close the crash site, but the bike was dragged quite a ways before it eventually dislodged near Rosemont.
Local barber Brian Fryer said he heard a loud noise and then saw a red truck "screaming" down the street. "I said, wow, what happened?"
"You gonna drag the bike about a mile down the street up under your car?" Fryer added. "How could you not know it?"
Darrin's step-father, Calais Kimling, said the boy's friends saw the accident coming.
"The kids said they told him to stop because they seen the car coming," said Kimling, "and he didn't stop. He kept going, and the car went around the other car and hit him, dragged him a block and dragged the bike a mile."
Kimling called Darrin a good, honest, and respectful kid who loved to ride his bike and play football. "He just didn't deserve to die this early," Kimling said.
The driver who allegedly struck the boy turned himself in to police Wednesday morning.
His name was not immediately released pending formal charges.
Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to call the Detroit Police Department's Fatal Squad at 313-596-2260 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
