11-year-old was driving car that crashed into young boy near playground, DC cops say
An 11-year-old boy was driving a car that crashed into a younger boy near a playground in Washington, D.C., according to police and reports.
The older child was behind the wheel of a Kia Optima when he was “unable to press the brake and stop the vehicle” before hitting the boy and then a curb the evening of July 25, a July 26 news release from the Metropolitan Police Department says.
The crash sent the 7-year-old to a nearby hospital with serious injuries that are non-life-threatening, according to police.
The young boy’s family told WUSA9 that he suffered a leg injury after the Kia struck him in the parking lot of a playground.
“He’s too young to be going through something like that,” the child’s aunt told the outlet. “I just want my nephew to get well soon.”
The 11-year-old boy fled the scene of the crash, NBC Washington reported.
The injured child’s aunt told FOX 5 that the collision may be related to a “Kia Challenge” that is circulating on the social media platform TikTok. Police could not say whether that was the case in this incident.
The “Kia Challenge” stems from a now-removed TikTok video that instructs others on how to start a Kia using a USB cable, McClatchy News reported.
“He probably didn’t mean to do it, but he still shouldn’t have been in the car,” the victim’s aunt told FOX 5 of the 11-year-old driver. “He still shouldn’t have been driving.”
MPD is asking anyone with information on the crash to contact authorities at 202-727-9099 or message a tip to the department’s tip line at 50411.
This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 3:45 PM with the headline "11-year-old was driving car that crashed into young boy near playground, DC cops say."
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