Teen severely injured after being run over by truck, family wants suspect to be 'taken off the streets'
REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA: A 15-year-old teenager was hospitalized after a hit-and-run accident in which a truck crashed into him while he was riding his e-bike in Redondo Beach on Saturday, September 17.
LeBron Evans was riding home on Saturday when the accident happened, leaving him severely injured. The teen has now been discharged from the hospital but is still recovering from the incident. The Redondo Beach police have lodged an investigation into the matter and are searching for the suspect.
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Evans' mother Christina revealed her son was riding with one of his close friends. The two were wearing their helmets and were driving carefully as it was dark at that time. He slowed down his bike on the corner of Rindge and Marshallfield lanes, for the stop sign. However, as he was crossing the road, the truck ran the stop sign, hitting him, and trapping him and his bike under the front bumper.
"I felt my hands on the cement, burning as he dragged me for at least half a block," Evans said, adding that he was trying to keep his head up, as his helmet flew off his head, thinking if his head hit the ground, "I’d be dead."
The deputies have managed to obtain a video of the incident from a neighbor's home security camera. In the video, LeBron can be seen freeing himself from the bike, which he bought this summer. Moments later, the truck driver backed up to dislodge the bicycle.
"It’s a miracle he’s alive" said his mother. The family's neighbors and friends have started a GoFundMe page to help in LeBron’s treatment as Christina is a single mother of two and can’t afford the bills of his treatment. More than anything, though, she wants the driver caught. "Why would he just drive away? Who does that?" she said. "In the scheme of things, he is very lucky, as it could have been worse. If this driver is not arrested and taken off the streets, the next kid may not be so lucky," she added.
The deputies have described the suspect as a Hispanic man between 30 and 40 years of age with short hair and no facial hair. He was driving an older pickup truck, possibly a model from the early 2000s with yellow/orange lights and a work rack on the front end.
Evans said the man didn’t say anything, but appeared to be "out of it" as if drunk. Evans may not be able to ride for a while and he will have to see a skin specialist to get better. Anyone with information is asked to give them a call at 310-379-2477.