'You left me on the ground': Boy knocked to ground after vehicle speeds through intersection in Niagara
Police are still searching for the driver of a vehicle that sped through a stop sign in Niagara Region last week and hit a bike being ridden by an 11-year-old child, knocking him to the ground before leaving the scene.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on June 11, near Confederation Avenue and Richmond Street in the City of Thorold.
Niagara Regional Police posted the video to social media Thursday afternoon.
In what appears to be dashboard footage from another vehicle, a car speeds through a stop sign at a residential four-way intersection as a child is biking through the crosswalk.
The vehicle appears to clip the bike, hitting its front wheel while it drives by. The child falls off the bike and tumbles towards the side of the road.
The Grade 6 student, identified by his mother as Nik Couture, sustained scratches and bruises to his arms and legs, but was otherwise physically unharmed. He told CTV News Toronto that a university student and some neighbours came to help him and gave him a cell phone to call his mom.
“I was telling her, I ran over to her and I hugged her and I was bawling my eyes out. I was crying and I got hit by a car and the guy didn’t stop.”
The boy’s mother was around the corner driving home from a friend’s house when she received the call. She said that when she arrived, her son’s bike was still in the middle of the road.
“You hit a child or anybody in that matter you stop. You make sure they are okay. You bring them home. You call the police. You be a human. You don’t just drive off,” Rieanna Couture said, adding that when she saw video of the incident, she “broke down and started crying.”
“Watching that video and my son telling me what happened are two different things. You know, kids always dramatize the story right, but watching that video, having that video of your child being struck by a car is a whole new level.”
Nik Couture said that while he understands if the car accidentally hit his bike, the driver should have stopped to help him.
“I get it if you accidentally hit my bike and help me up and try to call my mom and maybe walk me home, but you left me on the ground,” he said.
Nik Couture, 11, and his mother Rieanna Couture are seen in this photograph taken on June 18, 2021. (John Musselman/CTV News Toronto)
The boy said the steering on his bike is damaged, but he is just happy he was able to go home that day and hug his mom.
With files from CTV News Toronto's John Musselman
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
China's latest EV is a 'connected' car from smart phone and electronics maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country's booming but crowded market for electric cars.