A 14-year-old Bay City boy was seriously injured Thursday afternoon when investigators say a pickup truck intentionally struck the mini-bike he was riding in Maplewood Park, then sped off before officers arrived. The driver remains unidentified more than a day later, and police say they still don't even have a description of the suspect.
Bay City Public Safety officers were dispatched to Maplewood Park near Second and Grant streets at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday, according to WNEM. Investigators believe the driver of the pickup intentionally struck the mini-bike and then fled the scene, and the truck was later found abandoned several blocks away near Lincoln Street and 10th Street. The teen, identified by his family as Bentley Burkhart, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
A nearby Ring camera reportedly captured the moment the truck drove through the park and appeared to intentionally hit Burkhart, the station's report states. As of Friday, the driver had not been found or identified, and investigators did not have a description of the suspect to release to the public.
Conflicting Accounts of the Teen's Condition
Accounts of Burkhart's condition in the aftermath diverge. MLive reported that the teen remained hospitalized with serious injuries. WNEM, however, reported in a separate story that Burkhart was released from the hospital Friday morning after suffering two fractured discs in his back. The discrepancy between the two accounts has not been resolved.
Per Michigan's hit-and-run statute, drivers involved in a crash on property open to public travel are required to immediately stop at the scene and remain there, or promptly report the accident to the nearest police agency if they reasonably believe staying would cause further harm, according to Michigan Legislature records on MCL 257.617a. The law exists for exactly this kind of scenario: a vehicle collision followed by a driver leaving without identifying themselves to authorities.
Police Appeal for Surveillance Video
Investigators are now asking anyone who lives near Maplewood Park, or along the route toward Lincoln and 10th streets, to review their surveillance footage for any sign of the truck or its occupants. Maplewood Park sits in a residential stretch of the city, the kind of area where doorbell cameras and home security systems could prove key to identifying the vehicle involved.
Anyone with information is asked to call Bay City Public Safety at 989-892-8571 or the nonemergency line for Bay County Central Dispatch at 989-892-9551. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers. For now, the family of a badly hurt 14-year-old is left waiting, with the driver who allegedly ran him down still unaccounted for.
