The body of Thomas Haskins was a day away from being cremated – and his closest kin didn’t even know he was dead.The driver of a minivan struck and critically injured a 3-year-old boy in a south-side neighborhood Sunday before fleeing the scene, Fort Wayne police said.
- Update: Suspect arrested
Investigators believe the van was backing out of a driveway when it hit the boy on a sidewalk in front of a home in the 4900 block of Oliver Street, said Raquel Foster, a Fort Wayne police spokeswoman.
The boy’s parents immediately drove him to St. Joseph Hospital. “They just scooped him up and right away wanted to get him medical attention,” Foster said.
Along the way, police met the parents’ vehicle and escorted it to the hospital at Broadway and West Main Street. Because the boy was in critical condition, he was right away transferred to Lutheran Hospital. His most serious injury appeared to be to his head, Foster said.
Police were dispatched to the scene of the hit-and-run, 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 driver remained at large Sunday night, but police have information about him. He was apparently borrowing the van, which is registered to someone in the block where it was found, Foster said.
Oliver Street was closed to traffic as police investigated the hit-and-run. Foster said the boy lives on the block where he was hit. His name was not released.
