Texas police have arrested a teen accused of heartlessly ramming a truck into a man in a wheelchair and then fleeing the scene, leaving the victim with severe injuries, CBS Austin reports.
The incident occurred earlier this month and was recorded by a security camera. The footage shows a man using an electric wheelchair crossing a parking lot in the 9200 block of North Lamar Boulevard, near Rundberg Lane.
A white truck suddenly appears and the man in the wheelchair waves toward the truck, an apparent attempt to signal the driver to slow down. The driver of the truck bypasses a speed bump and instead appears to swerve toward the man in the wheelchair, crashes into him, and then drives over him.
The man was left lying in the parking lot motionless while the driver of the white truck fled the parking lot and crashed into a curb before speeding away.
Fortunately, a passing Austin Fire Department crew witnessed what happened and immediately stopped to help the man, who was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, is being treated for a cracked skull, brain bleed, fractured pelvis, head lacerations and other injuries, according to KVUE-TV, citing court records.
On Friday, officers detained 17-year-old Pablo Antonio Avila-Banagas and booked him into the Travis County Jail in connection with the hit and run. Investigators allege that Avila-Banagas drove the truck in the incident, which occurred on September 3 just before 10 a.m.
In fleeing the scene, Avila-Banagas nearly hit a telephone pole, drove onto the sidewalk, and almost struck another vehicle.
Avila-Banagas is charged with failure to stop and render aid causing serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony; injury to a disabled person, a second-degree felony; unlawful possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor; and failure to identify, also a misdemeanor.
To report information about the case, call the Austin Police Department’s Highway Investigation Tip Line at 512-974-8111.
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[Feature Photo via Austin Police Department]
