A 20-year-old New York man has been arrested after a a three-year-old boy was run down by vehicle and killed in front of his father in a Dunkin Donuts carpark.
Kevin Gomez was taken into custody for allegedly being the driver behind a 2014 white Infiniti Q50 sedan which struck Quintas Chen on Wednesday night.
Gomez was arrested on Thursday afternoon and has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license.
Police told DailyMail.com the toddler was crossing the middle of the street on College Point Boulevard at around 6.41pm when the driver was pulling away from their parking spot.
The child fell to the ground when the car hit him and was then struck by the side tires of the sedan. The suspect continued to drive away from the scene.
Chen was immediately taken to Booth Memorial Hospital, where he died.
Kevin Gomez was arrested for supposedly driving his 2014 white Infiniti Q50 sedan into Quintas Chen and striking him last night
The child fell to the ground when the car hit him and he was then struck by the driver’s side tires of the sedan
Officials later found the Infiniti abandoned a few blocks away from the scene.
The child was walking with his father Jimmy Chen back to their home from a doctor’s office when he was hit.
He told CBS: ‘He was a sweet boy. He was very adorable. He’s so loving. We miss him so much.’
His mother Karen Ng said while holding back tears: ‘I don’t think I spent enough time with him.’
She described her son as a ‘cute and adorable’ boy, saying: ‘His teachers say he learns pretty fast.’
The driver was in a white, four-door sedan and drove away from the scene, continuing south on College Point Boulevard
Police told DailyMail.com that the driver was pulling away from their parking spot when it struck the three-year-old
On the day of the suspect’s arrest, local lawmakers and police made an urgent plea to the public
On the day of the suspect’s arrest, local lawmakers and police made an urgent plea to the public.
Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim said the tragedy was every parent’s ‘worst nightmare’ and said that an incident like this ‘could’ve happened to any of us.’
‘Obviously, they’re in complete shock and traumatized,’ he said of the grieving parents.
‘They want to make sure that everyone’s held accountable and there’s justice for what happened to their child.’
‘I know how dangerous it is on College Point; as you can see, the vehicles are parked and backing out every day, it is not a safe sidewalk for families.’
Officials believe the car was parked in an illegal zone, which is why he rushed to leave the area.
The NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad is continuing to investigate the crash.