Bensalem Police are seeking the public’s help finding a car and driver in connection with a crash that killed a 14-year-old boy who was in the middle of the road.
Bensalem Sgt. Glenn Vandegrift said Monday the driver “had no culpability” in the crash, which occurred in the westbound lanes of Street Road just prior to the Route 1 overpass around 10:15 p.m. Thursday.
Vandegrift said the boy was one of two 14-year-olds who were in the middle of the road, mid-block, in the dark, and they were not near an intersection or a crosswalk.
The boy who died may have been knocked down by the car police are seeking and was then hit by a second car, Vandegrift said.
“We’re not saying the driver of the first vehicle was the cause of the crash. We just want to talk to that person,” Vandegrift said.
“The causation of the crash is on the children being in the roadway, not on the drivers,” he added.
A minute before the crash, Vandegrift said, a third vehicle had to brake hard and swerve around the boys in the roadway. Following that, Vandegrift said, “they continued to play in the roadway.”
At the time of the crash, according to a Bensalem Police Department press release, a dark gray four-door sedan, believed to be a Honda, swerved out of the left lane to miss the first boy. Vandegrift said that car, the one police are seeking, may have then knocked down the second boy, who was standing in the middle lane.
The second vehicle, a silver Hyundai Tucson, then hit the child while he was lying in the road, the press release said.
Both vehicles stopped immediately, but police said the first one, the one believed to be a Honda, left before they arrived. The gray sedan continued westbound on Street Road and entered into Lower Southampton. The driver of the silver Hyundai Tucson remained at the accident site.
“We would urge the driver of the sedan to contact the Bensalem Township Police Department right away,” the press release said.
Police said the dark gray sedan may have damage to the lower portion of the front end of the vehicle. They ask anyone with information about the identity of the driver or the location of the vehicle to submit an anonymous tip via CrimeWatch or to contact Bensalem Police at 215-633-3719.
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