A 13-year-old boy was hit by a van this evening at the intersection of Foster Avenue and Manhattan Street.
Schenectady police Sgt. Matthew Dearing said the boy was transported by Mohawk Ambulance to Albany Medical Center with a head injury but did not know his condition as of 7 p.m.
Witnesses at the scene said the unidentifed teen appeared to have bloody gashes on the back of his head and a “messed up” arm.
Police received a call about 6:50 p.m. reporting a boy riding a bicycle had been struck by a van, but neighborhood residents who gathered at the scene said the boy, who is from that area, had actually been walking his bicycle across the intersection because the brakes weren’t working.
Skid marks were visible at the scene, which police had taped off. Police would only say that the driver of the vehicle was a woman of unknown age, heading south on Foster Avenue at the time of the accident.
The teen was heading west on Manhattan Street, on his way to meet a group of friends, said Marialisha Estrada, a Foster Avenue resident who talked with several of the friends at the scene. Police interviewed the three boys after the accident.
Dearing said there was no way to know yet whether the driver had been speeding through the intersection. Detectives still need to conduct an accident reconstruction, he said, and they were interviewing the driver of the van at the scene around 7:15 p.m.
Neighborhood residents said drivers often speed through the area. Although city speed limit is 30 mph, Estrada and others in the community said they don’t dare let their children play or ride their bikes in the street because drivers whip down the street at 45 to 50 mph.
“Any kid that’s going down this block is going to get hit,” said Estrada, visibly upset as she gathered with two of her children. “I don’t let them play outside because of this street. I can’t let him cross this street because God knows who’s going to hit them. They all speed through here like it’s nobody’s business. And you can tell there’s children all over the place.”
The victim’s bicycle and shoes were strewn on the side lawn of a corner apartment. Witnesses said they thought he was tossed into the building by the impact of the collision.
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