14-Year-Old Injured in Hit-And-Run on Route 23

A 14-year-old boy was injured after he was hit by a car while attempting to cross Route 23 Saturday morning.

A police report on the incident states that the boy cut through the Burger King parking lot on Route 23 on his bicycle on his way home from sleeping over a friend’s house. He crossed Route 23 South without any problem. 

After he got off of the highway divider, the vehicles in the middle and right lanes on Route 23 North stopped for the boy but a vehicle “came out of nowhere” in the left land and hit him. Police reported the boy “could not believe it when the car drove away.”

Several U.S. National Guardsmen and a Wayne police officer performed first aid on the boy at the scene. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson and underwent surgery, however, the report did not state the extent of the boy’s injuries.

Parts from a silver Mazda 3 were recovered from the area; John Suarez from Wayne Mazda confirmed that the parts were from that model car and that it was manufactured no earlier than 2010.

The owner of the nearby Express gas station told police he would examine surveillance footage to see if the accident was filmed, the report states.

The boy’s mother did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Anyone with information should contact the Wayne Police Detective Bureau at 973-633-3530.

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.