ARVADA, Colo. — A 14-year-old boy was seriously injured after a driver struck him and fled the scene Sunday evening.
Around 9:20 p.m. Sunday, the Arvada Police Department received a call about a driver who had struck a teenager at the intersection of Sheridan Boulevard at W. 64th Avenue and continued driving.
Arvada police are now asking for information about this crash.
“That individual was struck by a dark-colored two-door sedan," said detective David Snelling with the APD. “Possibly a Toyota. It's incredibly frustrating anytime we have an accident where there's a hit-and-run. And then, to add injuries on top of that and to have somebody leave - it's like victimizing these people all over again.”
A similar incident happened at Colfax and Colorado Blvd. in Denver early Sunday morning.
In that case, the driver of the first vehicle hit was killed.
These two incidents highlight a disturbing trend across metro Denver. In Denver, there are now an average of 547 hit-and-runs a month, according to our partners at the Denver Post.
That breaks down to 18 a day.
“Leaving the scene of an accident, particularly where you're pretty sure there's injuries, is 10 times worse than just staying and facing the consequences,” Snelling said.
Yet driver’s are fleeing at record rates.
Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood has seen the most this year - 136 hit-and-runs, so far.
“I think as the volume of traffic grows in our state - these become a bigger issue,” Snelling said. "People are running out of fear and not wanting to face the consequences - whether they're driving under the influence, they don't have a driver's license or they don't have insurance.”
Arvada Police have determined that a black, two-door Toyota sedan with dark-tinted windows struck and seriously injured a 14-year-old boy. The suspect then fled north on Sheridan Boulevard.
Police said the boy’s injuries are not life-threatening, but he will need 'several' surgeries.
