11-year-old boy hit by car while walking home from school in Salinas

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) A Salinas mother is saying her 11-year-old son was hit by a car coming home from Mission Park Elementary on Tuesday at around 3 p.m.

She says in a Facebook post that a black SUV ran into him as he was crossing the street on West Acacia Street near Riker. The impact was caught on camera by a home security camera system nearby. The mother says her son was knocked through the air for a couple of feet before he landed on the ground.

"The lady in the black SUV was coming pretty fast from the video footage, and you know, apparently she didn't see him. I don't really know what happened," said Jasmine Lawson, the mother of the victim.  

In the video, the driver of the SUV stopped the vehicle after impact, opened the car door, closed it again and drove off.

A man who tells KION he is the husband of the driver claims his wife did not try to drive away like in a hit-and-run. He tells KION after the boy went off, she went straight to the police station to report the incident, rather than try to wait for police or to chase after the boy.

KION has not been able to independently verify these facts with the Salinas Police Department at this point.

Lawson says she is thankful her son did not end up in the hospital or with major injuries. But he still suffered a minor concussion, bruised ribs on his left side and bleeding knees and scrapes.

"He's expressed to me several times that he's afraid to walk now to and from school and to and from football practice," said Lawson.