Print edition: 
A 14-year-old boy is in critical condition at a local hospital after he was injured while riding a dirt bike along the Big Ditch on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
The crash occurred at 2:20 p.m. in the 3700 block of North Meridian, near Seneca and I-235, Lt. Doug Nolte said. The boy was taken to Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis with a skull fracture and numerous internal injuries.
He underwent surgery Tuesday and is expected to undergo more surgery today, Nolte said. He is currently in the intensive care unit.
The boy was riding with two other teens in an area not open to the public, Nolte said. The riders came upon a concrete culvert designed to control water flow. The other two boys, who are more familiar with the terrain, avoided the culvert but the 14-year-old did not. His 85cc bike dropped off the culvert and he fell 6 to 8 feet, landing on his head on the concrete.
He had been wearing a helmet earlier during the ride, Nolte said, but it slipped off at some point and he was helmetless at the time of the crash.
