INDIANAPOLIS — A 16-year-old was hit by a car on the city's south side, suffering a cracked vertebra and road rash - and it was all caught on video.
The video is hard to watch. Kids in the video are walking down the street. But folks in the neighborhood have asked what other option did they have? The shoulder is wet, muddy and there are no sidewalks.
"A kid’s gonna end up getting killed and still nothing’s gonna happen over here," Justin Conley, an Indianapolis resident, said. And it could have happened Thursday night. Conley's son and his friends were walking to play basketball, trying to take advantage of warm weather.
"Where are they gonna walk – you got cars parked, and you’re still close to the street anyways," Conley said.
Trent Vaughn was there when the accident happened Thursday night.
"He like flew in the air and done a flip and his body bounced off the ground, and he was unconscious for a minute," Vaughn said.
RTV6 is not naming the 16-year-old who was hit. His mom, however, told the newsroom off-camera that when police called her, they said he had a few scrapes and bruises.
"He has staples in the back of his head. Stitches on his face, in a neck brace and he’s in a wheelchair," Vaughn said.
Instead, it was road rash, trauma to his head and a cracked vertebra. According to Vaughn, the police had the 16-year-old walk to the hospital.
"They made my friend walk to the ambulance," Vaughn said. "I don’t know why."
Vaughn added that cars drive fast on Foltz Street. "They fly down here every day, going like 60 on the street."
The crash happened just a few blocks north of Stephen Decatur Elementary. There are no sidewalks in front of the school either.
"Put a sidewalk in because it’s scary walking in the street. Because you don’t know what’s gonna happen," Vaughn said.
RTV6 asked the Department of Public Works if the road was on a priority list for sidewalks. A spokeswoman didn't answer that question but referred us to a report from 2016 that showed the city needs over $1.5 billion for missing sidewalk infrastructure.
The newsroom also reached out to Mayor Joe Hogsett's office to see if they were discussing plans to fix the infrastructure problem, and never heard back.
Conley said it's time for a change. "We do need sidewalks because this neighborhood is full of kids, a lot."
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the crash report isn't yet completed and they're unsure if charges would be filed.
