Greeley — A 15-year-old driver reving the engine of a pick-up truck with a passanger beside him, threw the truck into reverse and plowed into two girls, killing an 8-year-old, witnesses in Greeley told KUSA 9News.
Police arrested the teen driver, a boy, who also seriously injured a 9-year-girl in the hit-and-run incident on Monday afternoon, according to 9News.
The TV station gave the following account:
Greeley Police said one of the girls was on a scooter and the other was on a bike when they were hit by a red Dodge pickup truck at East 25th Street Road and Arbor Avenue just before 4 p.m.
Both girls were taken to North Colorado Medical Center where one died around 4:30 p.m. The other girl was flown to The Children’s Hospital in Denver.
The red pickup truck that hit the girls was found, police said, and the suspected teen driver was arrested at about 5:30 p.m.
The names of the victims and the suspect were not released.
One of the girls’ neighbors said she watched it happen from her kitchen window.
“A couple of kids” were both playing in the truck and revving the tires, said a woman named Laurie, who was identified by her first name only.
“I saw the kids out there. I thought, ‘There’s no way he’s going to back up.’ And he threw it in reverse and he just plowed over those girls,” she said.
Laurie called 911 and sat with the mothers as they waited for paramedics.
“I think it’s horrible. I think it’s terrible. I can’t imagine that you would do that,” Laurie said. “I think they were just messing around, trying to show off. But still it’s senseless.”
“You could just see it on their faces, they were going to do something dumb,” said Antonio Lechuda, another neighbor. “Don’t give the keys to any kid just because they know how to drive.”
Police found the truck after a witness at the scene passed along the license plate number.
Neighbors say the two girls are cousins and their mothers, who are sisters, live in the same house. They apparently had just moved into the neighborhood just before the start of school.
