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HOUSTON — A 2-year-old boy is still in the hospital with brain injuries after being ejected from a vehicle more than a week ago, his family said.
Juan Suarez’s great-grandmother was driving him home in northeast Houston on the morning of Jan. 30.
Surveillance video received exclusively through ABC Houston partner KTRK shows that when they arrived at an intersection, a white pickup truck ran a red light and rammed the family’s car.
The boy’s family said he went flying into a ditch; although, it’s difficult to make out in the video.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, please leave it, let it happen. Let him make it,'” Suarez’s mother, Michelle Hernandez, said.
Hernandez said her son was treated for brain injuries and a damaged arm. He left the intensive care unit this week, but will most likely need extensive treatment before he can walk again, he said.
Her great-grandmother is now at home, but suffers from broken ribs and spine.
In the surveillance video, the truck can be seen pushing the family’s vehicle into a school bus.
The truck exits before the driver and passenger pull away from the driver’s side and start running.
“I didn’t stop bringing in help or anything,” Hernandez said.
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The police arrived in a matter of seconds.
The family’s attorney, Richard Nguyen, sent KTRK a message that read in part:
“The perpetrators of this first turn of automotive fate were being pursued by law enforcement at very high speed. . . It is desired that there be a thorough review of policies and procedures regarding the feasibility of prosecuting criminals at very high speed. police pursuit.
The Houston Police Department initially told KTRK they weren’t pursuing the truck, but said an officer saw it run a red light before the crash and may have tried to pull it over.
On Friday, HPD said an officer thought he saw the suspects stealing lawn tools from a trailer about 3 miles from the crash site, but said they fled and nearly hit the officer’s patrol car in the process.
Police said the officer activated his emergency lights, but didn’t chase the suspects.
HPD said it was actively racing to identify the driver and passenger.
“I need them to pay for what they did,” said the boy’s grandmother, Ana Torres. “My baby may not be the same, but we are in God who will heal him completely. “
The family started a GoFundMe campaign to cover medical expenses.
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