Search On For Hit-And-Run Driver Who Struck 6-Year-Old In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The NYPD was still looking late Thursday for whoever was behind the wheel of a dark minivan that plowed into a 6-year-old in Borough Park, Brooklyn.
As CBS2's Sonia Rincon reported, people in the neighborhood were asking how somebody could simply drive off after striking a young boy in the street. But police may be close to catching the suspect.
The boy was hit at around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at 41st Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway.
The incident was caught on surveillance video.
The driver of a black minivan slammed into the boy and then drove away. The video showed the boy's father quickly scooping him up, and the driver getting out of the minivan and then getting back in -- and taking off.
"It's sad," said Britt Argueta. "I mean, it's a 6-year-old in the hospital right now."
The video from the cameras at Argueta's business could help police find the driver.
"At least the cameras are showing somebody. And they got the license plate, I believe. There's a lot of information out of these cameras, so I'm glad that helped," she said.
People who work on Fort Hamilton Parkway and 41st Street are still upset by what they saw and heard.
"In the meantime all of us are kind of wondering, you know, who it is -- and we want that person found," said Mike Schwebel, who works nearby.
The boy's family is also desperate family is also desperate for answers. Workers at the stores here said a woman came in Thursday morning saying she was the boy's mother, and asking to get a closer look at the surveillance video.
Tony Gaspar was working when it happened and saw the boy's father grab his son. He thought of his own 6-year-old boy.
"I would do the same thing, like his dad – like pick him up, you know, asking for help," Gaspar said.
Schwebel was also working at the time. He says it all happened very quickly and he ran outside when he heard what happened.
"There was really nothing left of the scene, really, and by the time the cops showed up, from what we understand, there was nothing; nobody there," he said.
Police late Thursday were still looking for a black Toyota Sienna with Taxi & Limousine Commission plates.
The boy was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center where he was in serious but stable condition with a hip injury, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
An area resident told Schuck the driver should come forward.
"You have to go ahead and be responsible for your actions, and you need to come forward and face the consequences," the resident said. "That's part of being a responsible citizen and part of society."
The boy's most serious injury was to his hip.
