Driver Sought In Crash That Injured 5-Year-Old Boy, Mother

INDIO, CA — The driver of an SUV who fled the scene of a crash in Indio that injured a 5-year-old boy and his mother was being sought by police Friday.

Authorities were called about 4:40 p.m. Thursday to the crash at Indio Boulevard and Fred Waring Drive, where the mother and child were found inside a red Toyota Camry, said Benjamin Guitron, the Indio Police Department's police administrative officer.

Paramedics removed the patients, and the woman was taken to a hospital by ambulance while the boy was airlifted, Guitron said.

In an interview with KESQ on Friday, the father of the child said his son remained in an intensive care unit in Riverside and had been placed on a ventilator.

The boy needed a blood transfusion and had multiple fractures in his spine and shoulder, the father told KESQ, adding that his wife was home from the hospital.

Guitron said the driver of a black Toyota Highlander fled the scene of the crash before authorities arrived. He was described as a man wearing all black.

Officers were working to determine the cause of the crash and were seeking the driver, Guitron said.

Indio police asked anyone with information on the crash or the whereabouts of the driver to call 760-391-4051 or 760-341-7867.

—City News Service