Family says driver tried to escape after hitting 3-year-old boy

HAVERHILL, Mass. — A 3-year-old boy is talking about the moment he got hit by a car, right in front of his house.

Witnesses say the driver tried to leave the scene, but didn’t get very far because the boy’s mother followed him down the street until police arrived.

"My nephew is very, very lucky to be alive,” Dawn Doty said about her nephew Liam.

Doty said the car backed up in attempt to flee after running over Liam’s foot.

"The car knocked me over in the street,” Liam said.  "I was crying and I had to go to the doctor."

That driver didn’t get very far.

"Some of my sister’s friends followed him down the street and brought him back here so he could be arrested,” Doty said.

They held the driver until she says police arrested him. Doty says the driver was trying to leave because he didn’t have a license or car insurance.

Now Doty has a message for all drivers.

“People should realize that there's little children in any neighborhood... so they really need to watch their speed,” she said.

FOX25 reached out to the Haverhill Police Department for details of the arrest but has not heard back.

Cox Media Group