15-year-old boy dies after being run over by 15-year-old in Hamilton
Published January 11, 2023 at 6:41 pm
A 15-year-old Hamilton boy died on Wednesday when he was hit by an SUV driven by a boy the same age who was one of his schoolmates at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School.
It is the first traffic death of the year in Hamilton, which had 24 in 2022, the most in any year of the past decade. The boy, whose name was not released as his family grieves, was walking home from school shortly before 3 p.m. when the car struck him on Upper Paradise Rd., resulting in a closure between Stone Church Rd. W. and Skyview Dr. As of 7 p.m., that span of road remains blocked off, and police have asked the public to avoid the area.
Const. Krista-Lee Ernst said the teenage driver was not driving a stolen vehicle, and has been arrested for failure to remain at a collision causing death. Further charges are possible. She confirmed that both boys attended St. Thomas More.
“It is an absolute tragedy,” Const. Ernst said in a media briefing. “We can confirm that a 15-year-old boy has been charged with failure to remain at a collision causing death and is in custody. It was not a stolen vehicle. An arrest he been made, and there are lots of avenues for how this will be handled.
“As you heard (Police) Chief (Frank) Bergen say today (at a city council meeting), we had a high number of traffic deaths in 2022,” Ernst added, referring to the 10-year high of 24 traffic deaths on city roadways last year. “This is not going to continue into 2023 in Hamilton. Hamilton Police are going to do absolutely everything we can to make our roads safer.”
The police are asking for motorists, business owners and homeowners in the affected area on the West Mountain to check for evidence. That can include dashcam footage from a car, or surveillance footage.
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“We are asking for the public’s help, if you were on Upper Gage Avenue, Upper Paradise Road, Rymal Road, around that time,” she said. “If you saw anyone who was driving erratically, please contact the police.”
Investigations of collisions that are fatal or result in life-altering injuries are usually handled by the Hamilton Police Reconstruction Unit (905-546-4753). Information may also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-8477; online at crimestoppershamilton.com).
Ernst added that HPS had not initially released the name of the deceased boy out of respect for his family.
Sixteen years old is the minimum age to become a novice driver in Ontario with a G1-level licence. A condition of the licence is that the teenage driver must have a licensed driver with them in the front passenger seat.
(Cover image: YouTube.)
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