FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are searching for the driver who struck a teen riding an electric scooter before fleeing the scene in Fort Lauderdale.
Police said 14-year-old Alexis Gutierrez was riding an electric scooter around 3:50 a.m. on Dec. 1 in downtown Fort Lauderdale when he was truck by a four-door sedan, possibly a maroon Acura.
His mother, Reina Gutierrez, made a passionate plea Tuesday and asked the driver to come forward.
“Please turn yourself in,” she said through a translator. “I don’t know a better way to ask the person who ran over my son, because they left him like an animal. What would it cost someone to stop and help my son.”
Gutierrez was riding a rental scooter with his older brothers while celebrating a friend’s birthday. The victim was riding in the back of the group when he was hit on the 6000 block of North Federal Highway.
The driver fled the scene after the crash.
“That vehicle did not stop and fled. As a result, he suffered extensive injuries,” said Fort Lauderdale Maj. Frank Souza. “He’s in serious condition nine days later. Her son’s in eighth grade. He’s a good kid who’s home. He’s not one that’s out on the streets or walking around. He’s a good kid.”
Police said the car may have damage to the front end and windshield and was possibly driven by a woman with short curly hair.
Gutierrez has been inside the hospital ever since.
“She’s making a plea to the person who did this, that if they’re a mother or father, a family member, to put themselves in her shoes, to leave her son discarded on the roadway like that, and not even come out and offer assistance, to please come forward and put themselves in her shoes,” an officer said, translating for the teen’s mother.
The driver of the vehicle was last seen heading into Holiday Park.
The victim remains in serious condition.
If you have any information on this hit-and-run, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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