Boy struck by truck, flown to hospital

WASILLA — A teenage boy was transported by emergency helicopter after he was struck by a pickup truck in a residential neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.

Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said a 1998 Chevy pickup truck driven by a 19-year-old Wasilla man collided with a boy on a bicycle around 4:40 p.m., June 26 near the intersection of N. Tampa Court and N. Calder Road, off of Bogard and Engstrom roads.

Alaska State Troopers with the Bureau of Highway Patrol at Patrol Troopers responded to investigate the motor vehicle collision and determined that the man had collided with a 13-year-old juvenile who rode his bicycle into the roadway from a driveway.

Medics on scene reported the teen as unconscious with multiple traumatic injuries to his head, stomach and legs, Peters said.

The boy was transported by Life-Med Alaska air ambulance to a Providence Alaska Medical Center for emergency treatment, Peters said.

No information was available as of press time about the patient’s condition, she said, adding an investigation into the accident is ongoing.

Peters said that investigation includes multiple avenues of inquiry.

“It would be what we look at in any investigation on the roadways, who’s potentially at fault, what are the reasons for it? Could it have been prevented? Are there any factors that might have some kind of sway?”

She said one of those areas troopers will look at is toxicology screenings. Was either the boy on the bike or the man in the pickup impaired?

“It’s not that we suspect it, but it’s something that it would be irresponsible for us if we didn’t check,” Peters said.

She said she could not comment on anything those investigations had concluded thus far. Nor could she speculate.

“I don’t know what kind of setup it is. I don’t know if there’s trees that block the driveway from the road. I don’t know what the speed limit is in the area. But those are all things that are looked at by a trooper investigating an incident,” Peters said.