4-Year-Old Boy Sitting in Dad’s Bike Trailer Dies in Hit-and-Run in Indianapolis

A 4-year-old boy in Indiana is dead and two other people are injured after a driver ran a red light while speeding, authorities said.

According to local outlets FOX 59, WTHR and The Indianapolis Star, 4-year-old Alan Marcelo Salas-Garcia was riding in a trailer seat hooked up to the back of his dad’s bicycle in Indianapolis on May 7 when a person driving a Dodge Charger sped through an intersection and hit them both.

An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) spokesperson told the outlets that the driver was traveling east on Raymond Street at a high speed around 9:15 p.m. local time when he ran the red light at State Avenue.

The car then jumped the curb and finally stopped in the grass. The driver later fled on foot, police told the outlets.

“The bicyclist was in the crosswalk,” IMPD Night Watch Captain Don Weilhammer told FOX 59. “[He] had the walk symbol.”

“The driver of the other vehicle that was struck by the Charger had the green light. So, the bicyclist was well out, almost to the median crossing it,” Weilhammer continued. “So, it wasn’t a thing where they were trying to beat the light. It had been a solid red for quite some time, enough time for the light to turn green. And the other car was obviously out in the intersection as well.”

Alan’s father, identified by the Star as Cristobal Salas, was critically injured. The Dodge also struck a Honda, whose driver had a green light at the time of the crash.

Alan was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 10 p.m. The father’s family confirmed to the Star on May 8 that he was in stable condition.

IMPD officers locked down nearby neighborhoods in an attempt to catch the driver, the Star reported, using drones and police dogs to help with the search. After a four hours, the driver still hadn’t been found, and the Star reported that an arrest had not been made by May 9.

The Salas’ friends and neighbors, including liquor store manager whose security cameras captured footage of the crash, opened up about just how much the incident has impacted the community.

“That Charger was flying … They didn’t even attempt to stop,” Tommy Jacob, the general manager of nearby Quality Liquor, told the Star. “I haven’t stopped crying since yesterday. It’s just awful.”

Alan’s 17-year-old brother also opened up about his death, telling the Star: “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”

Other locals told the newspaper that they hope the city makes changes to make the neighborhood safer for pedestrians.

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“I couldn’t believe this would happen to them. They [are] like family,” Greg Howard, one of Salas’ neighbors, told the Star.

“It’s like a highway over there,” he added of East Raymond Street. “People are constantly flying through it, making it unsafe for people to cross those roads safely.”

“All this could’ve been avoided if we would do the speed limit and pay attention to the lights,” Weilhammer added to FOX 59. “Slow down, we have two families that are definitely going to be affected by this tragedy. It all could’ve been avoided if they weren’t speeding and hadn’t disregarded the red light.”

IMPD is asking anyone with information about the crash to contact investigators at (317) 327-2630. To remain anonymous, people can also contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana by calling (317) 262-8477, using the P3Tips mobile app or visiting CrimeTips.org.