Crime & Safety

Police: Peekskill Driver Passes Stopped School Bus, Hits Child, Flees Scene

A 19-year-old from Peekskill is accused of ignoring the red flashing lights of a stopped school bus and hitting a little boy who was crossing the street, according to state police. He then fled the scene.

The incident occurred at about 4 p.m. Thursday on Trolley Road in Cortlandt. The 7-year-old boy sustained minor injuries.

"Responding troopers located a 7-year-old boy, a student at the Putnam Valley Elementary School, who had suffered injuries to his left foot and abrasions to the left side of his face subsequent to being hit by a red Saturn that illegally passed a stopped school bus with it's flashing red lights activated," police said in a statement. "Witness accounts identified the suspect vehicle with only partially accurate license plate information and advised that the vehicle fled in a northbound direction, on Trolley Road, toward Putnam Valley."

State police investigators and troopers worked with the agency's intelligence center in Albany to determine the correct license plate number. They discovered that the vehicle was registered to a family member of the suspect. 

The investigation led to the suspect turning himself in at the Cortlandt barracks that night. He's facing misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree reckless endangerment and is due Oct. 18 in Cortlandt Justice Court. Police also charged him with several vehicle and traffic infractions.

The boy was transported to the Hudson Valley Hospital Center. He was treated there and released to his parents.

"Anyone that may have witnessed the incident is asked to contact the state police at 914-737-7171," officials said.


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