Family wants answers after boy injured in hit-and-run accident

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Officers are looking for any sign of the car that hit a boy and drove off.

Witnesses say it dragged the child a short distance, and Deshaun Mitchell has several major injuries. His family says they want the careless driver who hit him to be found and arrested.

Detectives believe there is likely damage to the suspect's car.

The young victim's family says there is no explanation for what happened and no words will be adequate for leaving their son hurt and helpless in the middle of the street. Deshaun was going home Friday night with his younger brother. The two had just left their aunt's house when the 9 and 7-year-olds were crossing the street at California and Pottle Avenues.

"He said the car was in the middle lane, not the turn lane," the boy's mother Shawnneika Peters said. "And they were in the middle and they thought that they were going to stop that's why he had ran. But his brother had saw that the car was turning, so he pushed his little brother out of the way and he ended up getting hit."

Deshaun told his mom he felt the impact but never lost consciousness. Police believe the force threw the boy 50 feet before he was then run over. "He still remembers like when the car ran over his leg," Peters said. "He said it ran over- the first tires and the second tires both ran over him. And then the car kept going."

The third grader survived and underwent surgery at Valley Children's Hospital to repair a shattered femur. He also has bruised lungs and a swollen left temple.

Witnesses told investigators the hit-and-run driver was in a white SUV. Officers are also checking surveillance video in the area for clues.

Police say Deshaun's bold act prevented his brother from also being hit. "It sounds like he actually saved his 7-year-old brother from being struck by this vehicle," said Sgt. Mark Hudson with the Fresno Police Department.

"I told him I was proud of him," Deshaun's father Dedrick Mitchell said. "There's a lot of people who freeze up in situations. I know grown men who wouldn't know what to do or panic but with no hesitation he grabbed his brother and he felt good about that."

While the family is grateful Deshaun will recover, they want the person who struck their son to answer for the crime.

"You can't just keep going around the road like you didn't just run a kid over yesterday," the family said. "Who does that?"