9-year-old boy seriously hurt in hit-and-run crash during street race in Wichita

A 9-year-old pedestrian was seriously hurt during a street race Wednesday evening in south Wichita. Two teenage boys have been arrested after the hit-and-run crash.

The incident happened at around 7:30 p.m., when officers witnessed the hit-and-run injury accident in the 2700 block of South Meridian, Officer Trevor Macy said in a news release. Witnesses at the scene reported seeing two trucks racing southbound on Meridian, and one of the trucks struck the 9-year-old child.

The boy was taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigators found both trucks and arrested their drivers. A 16-year-old boy was booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of reckless driving and driving without a license. A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery, reckless driving, hit and run and violating driver’s license restrictions.

“It’s definitely a concern of the Wichita Police Department,” Officer Charley Davidson said of drag racing during a media briefing. “We just had a fatality accident involving the racing as well. Traffic is a very high concern, it’s one of the top complaints we get in neighborhoods.”

“We’re getting up closer to summertime, so there’s going to be a lot more individuals out, so we’re going to be cracking down on this street racing. We ask if you see any of this behavior, call us.”

This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 2:29 PM.