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Aurora police ask for help identifying hit-and-run driver that forced car into yard, injuring boy

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Posted at 1:10 PM, Jul 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-20 11:09:56-04

AURORA, Colo. – Police are looking for help in identifying a driver who forced another vehicle off the road Thursday, causing it to crash through two fences and hit a 5-year-old boy.

The hit-and-run crash happened on East Quincy Avenue at 3:48 p.m. Thursday, and the vehicle that was hit ended up inside a backyard in the 14500 block of East Radcliff Drive, police said.

Dash camera video from the driver who was hit shows a silver four-door sedan come alongside the Ford Explorer and swipe it, forcing it off the road. The Explorer then traveled through two backyards before coming to a stop in front of a shed.

Aurora police said the 5-year-old boy was hit by the car that was forced off the road and through the fence. Police said the boy was hospitalized with serious injuries, but that none were life threatening. Family members said the boy was hospitalized with a neck brace in an interview Friday. The driver of the Explorer was also taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Alicia Mestas says her grandson Esteban was hit by the SUV and carried into the neighbor’s yard. He is in the hospital with a fractured skull. His family is praying his neurological tests come back normal.

“To see your grandson laying lifeless on the ground with a big hole in his head doing CPR on him because he wasn’t breathing,” Mestas said “He’s in pain. He has 30 stitches on one gape of a hole and 10 on another one.”

Mestas says Esteban is in good spirits and just had one request from the hospital: Nutella.

She doesn’t blame the driver of the SUV but demands the driver of the silver sedan come forward.

“Own up to it and pay for it. You ran away like a coward,” Mestas said.

Police are asking anyone who saw the crash or has information about it to call the Traffic Operations Unit at 303-739-6317 or Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.

Editor's Note: Police originally said the boy was 4 years old, but his family says he is 5 years old.