4-year-old dies in crash while riding with dad on stolen scooter, New York cops say
A 4-year-old was killed when the stolen two-wheel scooter he was riding on with his dad crashed in the Bronx over the weekend, according to the New York Police Department.
The boy’s father, Mario Rosario Sr., 24, was riding southbound on Bailey Avenue when the scooter collided with a white Toyota sedan as both vehicles tried to turn onto 193rd Street around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, police in a news release.
The scooter then struck a curb, tossing the man and his young son onto the ground. Authorities said the boy wasn’t wearing a helmet and suffered severe head injuries.
Neighbor Gebre Mitchell ran out to help and saw the child on the ground, CBS New York reported. He recalled tragic scene and the father’s “gut-wrenching” cries.
“I dropped down to my knees, I grabbed the child, I put my head to his chest,” Mitchell told the news station. “He wasn’t moving. His heart was beating, but it was fading.”
The boy, identified as Mario Rosario Jr., was taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital where he died, police said.
Authorities said the child’s father and the driver stayed at the scene as the crash was investigated.
Mario Rosario Sr. was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of stolen property, according to the NYPD.
The driver of the white Toyota sedan was charged with driving on a suspended license, police said. He was on his way home, less than a block away, when the crash occurred, the New York Daily News reported.
The driver’s brother-in-law, who also rushed to the scene, said the child’s father was visibly upset and “crying, banging on the car,” according to the newspaper.
“I have that image stuck in my head, seeing the child lying there,” the brother-in-law told the Daily News. “All of us will have to be in therapy after this. It is such a horrible tragedy.”
The crash remains under investigation.
This story was originally published August 15, 2022 at 5:04 PM with the headline "4-year-old dies in crash while riding with dad on stolen scooter, New York cops say."