Boy Struck, Critically Hurt by Truck Rig
A 12-year-old Hawthorne boy was in critical condition Monday after apparently being run over by a large tractor-trailer rig whose driver may not have been aware of the accident, California Highway Patrol officers said.
The victim of the Sunday evening accident was identified by a Harbor-UCLA Medical Center spokeswoman as Douglas Nelson.
Investigators said tire-tread marks indicated that an 18-wheel rig struck the boy as he rode his bicycle near a construction site in the 5500 block of El Segundo Boulevard, near the San Diego Freeway, about 6:45 p.m. Sunday. They were trying to find the truck Monday.
CHP Patrolman Art Aclaro said there was nothing to show that the driver knew he had struck the boy, leaving him injured in the road.
The boy was found a short time later by a passer-by.
Because the young victim carried no identification, officers made a door-to-door search through a nearby housing tract, but were not able to find his family. The boy’s father, David Nelson, telephoned Hawthorne police Sunday night to say his son was missing, but it was not until early Monday that the connection was made.
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