The elderly couple told police they had been duped out of thousands of dollars and that their Social Security checks were diverted to Georgia, which gave detectives their first real clue.FORT WAYNE – The driver of a minivan that struck and critically injured a 3-year-old boy in a south-side neighborhood Sunday has come forward, Fort Wayne police said Monday.
Michael T. Harris, 38, of Fort Wayne, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury, and driving while suspended, according to a written statement issued by police.
Investigators said for an earlier story that they believed the van was backing out of a driveway when it struck the boy on a sidewalk in front of a home in the 4900 block of Oliver Street.
Police were dispatched to the scene, near East Pettit Avenue, at 4:55 p.m. The green, older-style van that hit the boy had left before officers arrived. Witnesses were able to give police a description of the van and driver, police said.
Within about two hours, police found a minivan matching the description nearly two miles away in the 200 block of West Oakdale Drive, near South Calhoun Street and West Rudisill Boulevard. The van, believed to be the one that struck the boy, was towed so it could be processed for evidence, police said.
The victim, Jaime Saldana, has been upgraded to serious (stable) condition, police said.
