20-Year-Old With Learner's Permit Killed NYC Boy In Hit-And-Run: Cops

QUEENS, NY — A 20-year-old with a learner's permit is the hit-and-run driver who plowed over and killed a 3-year-old boy in a Queens, police said.

Kevin Gomez, 20, was arrested Thursday, barely a day after the death of young pedestrian Quintas Chen at the intersection of College Point Boulevard and 41st Avenue, authorities said.

Gomez pulled a 2014 Infiniti Q50 from the curb at the intersection and struck Chen, 3, before driving off down College Point Bouelvard, NYPD officials said.

Police found the car ditched a few blocks away near Pople Avenue, while Chen was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.

Chen's death prompted an outpouring a grief, including from Mayor Eric Adams, who said it showed the need to take steps to stop traffic deaths.

"Yesterday, losing a 3-year-old child to violence is a real reflection and indicator," Adams said Thursday.

Gomez's arrest unfolded that day about 4:20 p.m. He only had a learner's permit, according to one of the charges he faces: permit unlicensed operation.

He also faces a charge of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.