A 14-year-old boy riding a moped-like vehicle was busted this week for allegedly ramming into a 6-year-old boy inside an East Harlem park an leaving him clinging to life, police said.
The teen was arrested Thursday and slapped with a juvenile charge for leaving the scene of an accident with a serious injury in connection to the tragic Sunday incident at Thomas Jefferson Park, cops said.
The young suspect – whose name was not released because of his age – was riding a “two-wheeled motorized vehicle” on a pedestrian walkway inside of the park, at East 111th Street and First Avenue, around 6:30 p.m. when he struck the boy, cops said.
The boy was thrown to the ground and suffered severe head trauma, authorities said.
He was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
The youngster who allegedly struck him initially remained at the scene, but took off before cops showed up, without identifying himself, police said.
The gravely injured boy was later diagnosed with a brain bleed and multiple skull fractures and moved to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, police said.
The alleged hit-and-run crash happened just two days before the city lifted a ban on e-bikes and scooters in its parks as part of a yearlong pilot program.
The pilot — which does not include “faster, heavier mopeds” that require a driver’s license to operate in the list of approved electric vehicles — allows e-bikes and scooters under 100 pounds to drive along park drives and greenways inside city parks.
Such vehicles are not permitted on pedestrian paths through parks, however.
The Parks Department has said it will continue to maintain its rules against reckless behavior by those riding such vehicles.
