Moment boy, 11, is ‘hit by drunk SUV driver & dragged 50ft down street’ – leaving him fighting for life
AN 11-year-old boy was left clinging onto life after he was struck by an alleged drunk driver while riding his bike and dragged 50 feet down the street.
Caleb Ingelhart was just minutes away from his home in Aurora, Colorado, when he was hit by an SUV as he attempted to cross the street on June 10.
The alleged driver of the truck, Hector Garcia, 32, is accused of not immediately noticing young Caleb and continuing to drive with the boy caught beneath his vehicle for around 50ft before coming to a stop.
Quick-thinking bystanders raced to lift the SUV off of the boy and a woman was eventually able to reach beneath the vehicle and haul Caleb out.
The incident was caught in full on horrifying surveillance footage.
The 11-year-old suffered a multitude of serious injuries, including a skull fracture, brain bleed, a fractured scapula, deep cuts to a number of bones, trauma to his neck tendons, and road rash.
Caleb underwent his fifth surgery in two weeks on Friday. He is now recovering at home but is said to still be in “major pain.”
His mother, Deborah Ingelhart, told local media: “You wish you could do something. It’s hard when you see your child screaming for three hours because they’re in so much pain.”
She added she’s “grateful” to the Samaritans who raced to her son’s aid, crediting them for saving his life.
“He’s here today because of those people,” Deborah said. “I really feel that way.”
Deborah remains hopeful Caleb will make a full recovery and will back to being his happy and active self soon.
“He needs to continue being a kid and get back on that bike,” she said.
Garcia, meanwhile, is now facing child abuse and vehicular assault DUI charges.
According to an arrest affidavit, the 32-year-old failed sobriety tests and admitted to having two drinks before getting behind the wheel.
Investigators with Aurora PD said multiple witnesses saw Garcia turn right at a red light onto northbound North Chambers Road from East 13th Avenue and failing to yield for Caleb as he crossed.
Numerous drivers yelled and honked their horns for Garcia to stop, which he eventually did, but only after dragging the boy a “significant distance”, the report says.
One witness reported seeing Garcia hide “a can booze of some sort” in the back of the SUV when he got out, before helping the boy, according to the affidavit.
Garcia’s eyes were “red and glossy”, an officer said in the affidavit.
The driver reportedly told another officer he had “two Smirnoffs” about an hour before the incident and a Budweiser sometime during the morning.
He also reportedly failed numerous aspects of a voluntary roadside test, including a lack of balance and failing to follow instructions properly.
Garcia was then taken into custody where it was discovered he’d been driving on a suspended license.
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He reportedly told police he didn’t see Caleb crossing the road when he struck him.
He also initially tried to claim that another motorist had struck the boy first, police said, which was later found to be untrue.
Garcia is due to appear in court in July.