Boy, 13, Dies In Alleged Hit-And-Run Crash
UPLAND (CBSLA.com) — Friends and schoolmates are mourning the death of a 13-year-old boy who was killed in an alleged hit-and-run crash Monday night in Upland.
The crash happened just before 11 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Campus Avenue and Arrow Highway, Upland police said.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a white pickup truck that had collided with a red compact car, officials said.
"The force of the collision caused the sedan to collide with the carport of a vacant house causing a partial collapse of the carport roof," Lt. Cliff Mathews said.
The red car caught fire, but officers were able to extinguish the flames before the Upland Fire Department arrived.
Thirteen-year-old Josh Roberson died on impact, police said. His mother was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the pickup, 21-year-old Kyle Bahensky, fled the scene on foot, Mathews said. He was later arrested by Upland police at his home in Ontario.
Bahensky was booked at the West Valley Detention Center on charges of felony hit-and-run. Additional charges are pending once an investigation is complete, police said.
"You don't hit somebody and run off, like it's no big deal. You have to live with that your whole entire life. And if you don't feel bad then I don't know what's wrong with you," Josh's classmate Madison Porter said.
Friends said kids often made fun of Josh for his weight but that he always responded with his trademark smile.
"He was a kid who, sometimes, kids may have made fun of, but he didn't let it bother him. And he was just an amazing kid," teacher Paul Ruiz said.
"People started making fun of him but every time someone started saying stuff all he did was just smile back...He wasn't a mean person," Josh's friend Robert Cabrera said.
