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Police find car driven in Lowell hit-and-run

E-mail|Link|Comments () November 19, 2009 06:07 PM

John M. Guilfoil

The car suspected in the accident.

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL – An angry family called today for swift justice after a brazen hit and run seriously hurt a 12-year-old student as he walked to a friend’s home after school.

Kelvin Savanhmixay

Police said they had made “tremendous progress” in the investigation as officers seized a car in Methuen they believe struck and critically injured 12-year-old Kelvin Savanhmixay on Wednesday afternoon. The car -- a dark-blue Acura -- is believed to be one of two vehicles in a drag race down the VFW Parkway toward the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus when one car struck the boy.

The car was found in Methuen early today, Lowell Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee said during a news conference this morning.

He did not indicate who owned the car or whether the owner was being sought.

Outside the boy’s home on Union Street, family members told the Globe they were informed by police where the car was found. Someone, they said, tried to get the car repaired right after the accident. Family members said the shop’s owner called police when he grew suspicious.
Lowell police would not comment on how the car was found, saying the investigation was ongoing.

“We were just shocked,” said the victim’s stepfather, Danny Savanhmixay, 36. “What kind of human being would just run somebody over and take off like that? A kid, too. That could be anybody’s kid, brother, son, a human being. How do you just take off like nothing happened?”

Savanhmixay said Kelvin was walking to a friend’s house after being let out of the Kathryn P. Stoklosa Middle School on Broadway.

Kelvin was listed in fair condition today in the intensive care unit of Children’s Hospital Boston. He is expected to survive. At the family home, his stepfather said Kelvin had to have leg surgery and that doctors were performing head and neck tests on him. Savanhmixay said the family still didn't know the full extent of Kelvin's injuries.

“The young man is doing much better,” Lavallee said. “Although his injuries are severe, he is apparently going to be OK.”

Danny Savanhmixay said his wife, Dao, 37, Kelvin's mother, has not left her son’s side. He said his wife’s family is from Laos, and several dozen members of the extended family live in the area. Few have slept since the news broke, he said. “And that’s not counting the dozens and dozens of friends and friends of friends who have called us,” he said.

Savanhmixay described Kelvin as a “regular kid” who is normally seen skateboarding with friends or playing his favorite video games, like other boys his age. “I think there’s a few girls chasing after him, too,” Savanhmixay said.

The Savanhmixay family is especially grateful to the as-yet unidentified person who may have reported the Acura to police.

Police say the two cars ran a red light at an intersection where the victim was crossing.
Seen in a police garage this afternoon, the seized car is a 2-door Acura RSX license with a Massachusetts license plate and a Methuen High School student parking permit hanging from the rear view mirror. Part of the windshield was shattered on the driver’s side, and there was heavy bumper and body damage.

The impact, witnesses said, sent the boy flying about 20 feet.

Lavallee said the Acura is believed to have hit the boy. That vehicle's driver, police said, sped off immediately. A second car, a black one, stopped momentarily but sped off when witnesses approached.

Street racing, glorified in recent movies by Hollywood and by pop culture, is being blamed for the incident. Lavallee chastised the two racers for refusing to stop after hitting the boy.

“They should be ashamed of themselves,” Lavallee said. “To strike this young man and leave the scene – leave him there for dead – is inexplicable.”

Danny Savanhmixay called the drivers cowards.

“Someone is going to pay for this,” he said.

Lavallee would not name any suspect or suspects.

Danny Savanhmixay said he was grateful to bystanders and witnesses who came to his stepson’s aid.
“I was grateful there were people that came out to help strangers. There are some good people out there,” he said. “I would do the same.