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Hit-And-Run Claims Life Of 15-Year-Old Boy In Riverside

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) - A deadly hit-and-run Tuesday night in Riverside has a family grieving over the loss of their 15-year-old boy, while the police are still searching for the driver.

Fatal Hit and Run 2
March 1, 2022.

The incident occurred at around 9:30 p.m. Traffic along the 2200 block of Main Street, near Poplar Avenue, in Riverside came to a stand still as police responded to the  hit-and-run that claimed the life of Javier Gonzales, who was from Colton.

Investigators said the 15-year-old was riding his bicycle in the middle of opposing lanes when a truck plowed into him and kept going. Gonzales had been going northbound, while the truck was headed southbound.

"All we know about the truck right now is it appears to be a black full size pickup truck," said Officer Ryan Railsback with the Riverside Police Department.

A worker from a nearby business shared security video that caught the crash. Gonzales is seen in the footage with three other friends on bicycles. After the collision, all three get off their bicycles and chase after the fleeing driver.

"We want the driver to know we just want to talk with you. We're still trying to figure out what exactly occurred," Officer Railsback said.

Riverside Police also said that this is their fifth traffic collision fatality since Thursday, but unlike the others, this is the only hit-and-run. The other drivers stayed at the scene.

"We want them to come forward....for the family of this boy, for maybe the friends that were there, they want some closure to this no matter whose fault it was," Railsback said.

Investigators are still looking for video from the area that captured the license plate or the driver in this case. In the meantime, they want to remind everyone that traffic collisions are preventable.

"Driving behavior is something we all can control. Not just that, being a bicyclist, being a pedestrian, being a skateboarder, that's all behavior we can control by not letting ourselves get distracted or inattentive to our surroundings," said Railsback.

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