A hit-and-run caused a chain reaction of crashes that left a teenage boy trapped under a car in City Heights Friday afternoon, officials confirmed.
San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officials said a vehicle hit a white Volvo just before 2 p.m. at 49th Street and University Avenue, and then the driver sped off.
In a chain reaction, the Volvo driver then struck a silver Hyundai, jumped onto a curb and tried to stop herself by hitting a light pole and a wall. But after striking the wall, the Volvo slammed into two pedestrians and into a parked SUV.
Yassin Abduba, a witness to the crash, told NBC 7 the male pedestrians -- a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old -- were returning home from a nearby mosque.
He said the 13-year-old boy was pinned under a car, and his leg was unrecognizable because it was badly torn up. Everytime the teen tried to get out from under the Volvo, the bumper would fall on his tattered limb, Abduba described.
Many people rushed over to lift the car off the victim.
"At first there was two and then there was three," one of the good Samaritans, Osman Egal, said through a translator. "They lift the car up and push the boy from under the car."
Another man ran took his shirt off to wrap the victim's leg.
"I want to cry myself because it was a terrible accident," said Egal. "I can't look at the boy. I couldn't dare to look at the boy because it was very bad. It was bad."
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The second pedestrian was hit, but not pinned, by the car. Police said the 15-year-old was taken to the hospital for minor injuries, while the 13-year-old was transported for major injuries to his left leg.
According to Abduba, the woman driving the Volvo came out in a panic and almost looked like she was going to run away, but Abduba held her at the scene.
"Yeah she is nervous, she's just nervous. She just try to run away. I hold her here. I hold and then I hold people and pushed [them back] -- when police came -- we helped together," said Abduba.
The Volvo's driver and passenger were also transported to a hospital with minor injuries, officials said.
Aerial footage showed the white vehicle involved in the crash halted in the middle of the street. The vehicle’s front windshield was shattered and the front bumper was torn off in the collision.
Other debris from the crash was strewn about the roadway.
There were approximately 10 San Diego Police Department vehicles at the scene, plus a fire engine and paramedics. A large crowd of bystanders looked on from nearby sidewalks as police began investigating the crash site.
The area was closed off to traffic. Police officers still remained on scene one hour after the collision, interviewing witnesses.
No further details were immediately released about the hit-and-run suspect. Investigators are still asking for surveillance video and witness accounts to help them identify the driver.
