A 5-year-old died Thursday after he was struck by a sport utility vehicle while riding his bicycle in southeast Denver, authorities said.
Denver police said the boy was struck about 4:30 p.m. on South Alton Court near East Cornell Avenue.
The boy was rushed to Swedish Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead soon after 5 p.m., police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
A 16-year-old boy was driving the SUV and was traveling with another teenager. The driver was not identified.
Jackson said the accident is under investigation. Police are not sure if the 5-year-old darted out into traffic.
The boy was getting ready to head out on a bicycle ride with his brother and another young sibling when he rode out in front of his house and was struck, Jackson said.
Neighbors Eric and Heather Scott said they don’t know the family well but often saw the boy and his younger brother playing around their yard with their parents watching.
“They played like little boys do, and it’s a pretty slow street we live on – it dead-ends, so we don’t see a lot of traffic through here,” Heather Scott, 27, said. “You just really have to be sorry for the family. The boy was only 5, and his life was just getting started.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
