The Star's Crime Scene blog reports that a driver has been charged in the January hit and run that knocked a 13 year-old boy off his bike and drug him for 200 feet. 

Boy, 13, dragged 200 feet by truck

Kansas City Star
January 25, 2006
Author: CHRISTINE VENDEL LYNN FRANEY

There's something in front of that truck.

That's what a 33-year-old teacher said to herself while driving home Monday evening. An approaching red Chevrolet pickup seemed to be pushing an object ahead of it in the westbound lanes of Truman Road.

Another driver thought it was a bag of trash.

"I couldn't figure out what it was," the teacher said.

It was a 13-year-old boy.

Hit while riding his bicycle shortly before 5 p.m., the boy tumbled to the pavement in front of the truck, which pushed him along, leaving his bicycle behind.

Fearing he was going to die, the boy prayed that he would live.

Others watched in horror as the truck pushed him 200 feet along a busy road during the evening rush hour.

"He was caught on the grill or something," said the teacher, who didn't want her name used because the hit-and-run driver remained at large Tuesday. "The truck was driving 30 mph, pushing him up the street. …

"He was in the fetal position, and he was just rolling. It was completely unbelievable. It was horrible."

Then the truck stopped, knocking the boy loose.

"His body just rolled forward, like a lifeless object," the teacher said.

Other witnesses stopped to help. The truck driver maneuvered around the boy and sped off. Two cars screeched to a halt to avoid running over the teen.

The teacher parked and walked to the boy, who moaned. Other witnesses covered him to keep him warm. One of his shoes was missing, torn away as he tumbled.

Several witnesses called 911. One directed traffic.

The teacher said she didn't get a good look at the driver. Others told police the driver was a man.

Healthy enough to recount later to his family what happened, a battered and bruised Juan C. Portillo was in serious condition Tuesday at Children's Mercy Hospital.

Remarkably, he suffered no broken bones or internal injuries, according to his aunt, Shirley Serrano. He needed several staples to close gashes in his head. He also suffered burns to his left leg and serious injuries to his foot, she said.

"All of the top of his foot is gone," she said. "He's going to need skin grafts."

Doctors plan to watch Juan for signs of infection.

His mother, Daisy Serrano, was at work when the truck hit her son, she said in Spanish during a news conference at Children's Mercy on Tuesday afternoon.

Later, she saw authorities working the accident scene but had no idea that Juan had been struck by a hit-and-run driver. When she arrived at the hospital Monday night, Juan was conscious, she said.

He told his mom not to be sad, because he was alive, she recalled.

Juan was riding east on a sidewalk when he crossed the driveway to Teresa's Drive-In, 6450 Truman Road, police said. The truck pulled out of the driveway and struck Juan, who had come from the driver's right. Police said the driver might have been looking left to check traffic.

Juan told his mother that he saw truck begin to pull out of the restaurant. But the truck stopped, as if the driver was letting him continue, Juan said. So he kept riding.

Then the driver hit the gas, struck him, and hit the gas again, dragging him, Daisy Serrano said her son told her.

He remembers thinking he was going to die. He prayed. Then he blacked out. He woke up in the ambulance.

Daisy Serrano said she was angry at the driver. She said she believed he knew he had hit someone, but that person's life wasn't important to him.

At the news conference, she sent a message to the driver: Turn yourself in, because hiding will only make the consequences worse.

She also asked anyone with information about the driver to contact the police so that the driver won't be able to do the same thing to someone else's child.

Officers on Tuesday were still looking for the driver of the truck, a red 1980s extended-cab Chevrolet with a dark-colored camper shell.

Anyone with information should call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (474-8477).

To reach Christine Vendel, call (816) 234-4438 or send e-mail to cvendel@kcstar.com.