A Connecticut man has been arrested after allegedly hitting a teenage bicyclist and fleeing the scene while the victim remained on the roof of his car, according to police.
Authorities said the driver, identified as 29-year-old Alex Joel Rivera, was aware he had struck the cyclist but fled because he feared being arrested and losing custody of his daughter.
Rivera had three passengers in the vehicle at the time, including the car’s owner and two children, his arrest warrant said.
On Friday night, Avon police responded to reports of debris in the road near Arch Road and Security Drive around 9:15 pm. At the scene, officers found a damaged bicycle, scattered candy and a cell phone, leading them to believe a bicyclist had been struck.
Neither the driver nor the victim were at the scene, prompting police to close the road for further investigation. Shortly after, authorities received a report of an injured child found near 73 Harris Road.
The victim has been identified at 16-year-old Liam Shields, a sophomore at Avon High School, who is in critical condition and placed in a medically induced coma.
Alex Joel Rivera, 29, was arrested after allegedly hitting a teenage bicyclist and fleeing the scene while the victim remained on the roof of his car, according to police
The victim has been identified at 16-year-old Liam Shields, a sophomore at Avon High School. He is reportedly critical condition.
Two witnesses, who had seen a Subaru driving erratically earlier, returned to the scene out of concern.
They found an injured cyclist and immediately called for emergency help. Police later determined that the cyclist, Shields, had been hit by the car and carried on its roof for several miles before being thrown off.
‘The juvenile was trapped on the roof and carried over four miles on local roads to the area of 73 Harris Road,’ police said. ‘The driver then stopped, pushed the juvenile off the roof, and drove away.’
Rivera claimed the cyclist ‘came out of nowhere’ and thought he had ‘rolled off’ the car, per the arrest warrant.
The car’s owner told police that she saw a foot hanging near Rivera’s window and urged him to stop. She said Rivera pushed the boy off the roof and drove away.
Authorities said Rivera admitted to panicking when he realized the boy was on the roof.
However, the car’s owner said he first called his daughter’s mother and his parents before contacting police.
The car was identified and located, leading to Rivera’s arrest. He faces charges of reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident involving serious injury, driving without a license, and two counts of child endangerment.
Rivera is currently being held on a $100,000 bond.
Close family friend Jenny Eldridge, whose son plays basketball with Liam, recalled the heartbreaking news she received on Friday night. ‘It’s tragic and sad,’ she said, noting how close her children are to Liam and his twin brother.
Pictured: Shields with his mom Andrea, who revealed her son was being treated for brain swelling and tissue damage
In response, the community has rallied around the Shields family. Eldridge launched a GoFundMe, which has raised more than $60,700, and local restaurants are hosting fundraisers to support the family.
State Senator Lisa Seminara expressed the community’s outrage: ‘This blatant disregard for human life has horrified us all. This young man was hit and carried for over four miles before being abandoned on the side of the road.’
Following the accident, Shields’ mom Andrea shared several updates on her son’s condition to her Facebook, revealing the teen was being treated for brain swelling and tissue damage at a local hospital.
In her latest note, Andrea wrote, ‘After a few spikes in his brain pressure overnight and this morning, Liam had a repeat brain imaging study today which looked stable from admission to the hospital.’
‘As such, his ICU doctor and neurosurgeon decided to start bringing him out of his medically induced coma.
‘They informed us that this can take hours to days so we will patiently be waiting at his bedside until he wakes up.’
