Authorities ID Suspect In Castro Valley Hit-And-Run That Injured Boy
CASTRO VALLEY (CBS SF) -- California Highway Patrol officers have identified the suspect who was behind the wheel in a hit-and-run crash that injured a young boy in Castro Valley Monday morning.
Authorities are still looking for 29-year-old Castro Valley resident Daniel Morris, the driver of the black Ford Fusion that struck the boy while he was walking with his grandmother and brother, a CHP officer said.
The 6-year-old boy was out walking on Meadowview Drive toward Marshall Street at about 8 a.m. and stopped on the sidewalk. While he was stopped, a black sedan coming up behind him veered onto the sidewalk and hit the child, CHP Officer Dan Jacowitz said.
Morris kept going on the sidewalk after hitting the boy, eventually crashing into a pole nearby. He got out of the car and ran into the neighborhood, Jacowitz said.
The Ford also struck the boy's eight-year-old brother, who sustained minor injuries.
The child was taken to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland with severe injuries. CHP officers responded and searched for the suspect.
Authorities also confirmed that the car that struck the boy was stolen from a Livermore auto dealership earlier Monday morning, according to police.
Investigators are looking into whether Morris was involved in the "slightly sophisticated" burglary at Livermore Ford Lincoln, where five cars were stolen, according to Livermore police Sgt. Steve Goard.
The Fusion was one of five cars that were dropped off for service at the Ford dealership, according to Goard. Surveillance video shows the suspects wearing dark hooded sweatshirts as they pried open a key drop-off box and stole the cars between 12:39 a.m. and 1:57 a.m.
Another of the cars was found near the canal in Livermore and appears to have broken down, Goard said. Three of the vehicles are still missing.
Officers thought they had tracked the suspect to a trailer nearby, surrounding and entering it just before 10 a.m., Jacowitz said. However, after interviewing the man, investigators ruled him out as a suspect and let him go.
CHP officers are asking anyone with information about the suspect or who may have relevant surveillance video to contact the CHP's Castro Valley office at (510) 581-9028.
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