Child With Autism Hospitalized After Hit-And-Run In Bloomington
LOMA LINDA (CBSLA.com) — A child with autism has been hospitalized with serious injuries after a hit-and-run.
The crash that injured Rocco Pezza happened outside of a motel in Bloomington on Valley Boulevard near Locust Avenue.
Rocco's mom says he is awake at times but has a fractured pelvis and a head fracture.
"I don't know. I thought he was gone. Seriously, my heart just … oh my God," said Carla Pezza, the victim's mother.
The 11-year-old ended up at Loma Linda University Medical Center after getting hit by a car Thursday night in front of the Bloomington motel where the family has been staying for both months.
After 12 years in Argentina, they came back to get better treatment for Rocco who has autism.
"He had a run twice that day and I was able to get him and then he ran, and I get out, and I don't see him," said Pezza, who explains that, as a boy with autism, Rocco is spontaneous, unfiltered and has high energy.
She says it's great most of the time but was dangerous Thursday when Rocco ran out of their hotel room and across busy Valley Boulevard.
Terrance Demby was standing nearby.
"She's yelling, 'Stop, Stop' and he's crossing the mid-lane and as soon as he cross that mid-lane, that first lane, it just happened. He suddenly just gets hit and all I heard was a thump and mom screaming at the top of her lungs," said Demby, who didn't see Rocco get him.
But Rocco's mother did.
"I just see him hit the ground and I run to him and I pick him up. I can't believe what's happening," she said. "I pick him up, I put him on the grass and he's not responding."
The driver disappeared before the California Highway Patrol and ambulances arrived.
Rocco's family wants the driver to be caught. The CHP says all they have is a description of a grey car.
"What's going on in his head to do that? I mean, I know I would never do that," said Pezza.
Rocco's family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $25,000 to help pay for medical expenses and to find a more permanent place for him to recover.
