A 7-year-old boy was injured Halloween night when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while trick-or-treating in Berkeley, police said.
The boy was hit just before 6:30 p.m. along the 1200 block of Derby Street, according to police.
He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a broken leg, cuts and abrasions, according to police.
The driver of the car – described by police as a possible dark sedan – did not stop and remained at large as of Wednesday.
Mike, who did not want to share his last name, said he heard the car accelerate before the impact.
"I could hear kind of skidding or accelerating out of there," he said. "There was no effort to stop or find out how anybody was doing. They raced out as fast as they came in."
Nearby on Matthews Street, damaged cars and debris marked where a dark Lexus crashed after hitting multiple vehicles on two separate streets less than an hour after the boy was hit.
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Police arrested 37-year-old Shyreece Smith for DUI and hit-and-run for those crashes. Investigators said he was also in possession of a gun and suspect he is a security guard.
Police are looking into whether the Lexus could have also hit the boy.
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People who were with the boy hope the collision will serve as a reminder to all drivers to slow down.
"It's absolutely terrible," Mike said. "It's like a parent's worse nightmare cause it could’ve easily been mine. It’s a horrible feeling. We want these neighborhoods to be safe."
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run that left the boy injured is asked to contact the Berkeley Police Department’s Traffic Unit at 510-981-5980.
