KENOSHA, Wis. — A Kenosha man remains hospitalized after a hit-and-run Saturday left him with serious injuries.
The suspected driver has been charged.
“I rub his arms and tell him I’m here. The nurse said he hears us,” Eileen Spates told TMJ4 News.
Spates explained that her son, Eddie Spates, is in a medically induced coma. Eddie was crossing Sheridan Road near 59th Street in Kenosha around 5:45 p.m. when he was struck.
Witnesses told police that the impact sent him into the air. The driver left the scene.
“Why? Why wouldn’t he stop? That doesn’t make any sense,” Spates wondered.
Ben Chaffee told TMJ4 he was caught in the backup moments after the collision and before paramedics arrived. Chaffee said he pulled over to help and found the victim unresponsive.
“I saw that he was faintly breathing, and I said a prayer for him. It’s a miracle that he’s alive,” Chaffee recalled.
Watch: Hit-and-run suspect charged, Kenosha man remains hospitalized
Video from a nearby high school helped Kenosha police identify the green 1997 Toyota Camry involved.
Court documents state that a license plate reader led authorities to the owner, 69-year-old Leonel Vera-Gonzalez.
Vera-Gonzalez told someone that people were throwing beer bottles at him, breaking his car window. He was charged in the hit-and-run. His cash bond was set at $15,000.
Spates said her son was trying to turn his life around.
“He just got back in with God. He started going to church. He said, ‘Mom, I’m changing my life for my kids,’” Spates said.
She is grateful for the people who stopped to help her son.
“People shouldn’t have to go through this. People need to slow down,” Spates said.
Vera-Gonzalez’s next court date is scheduled for Nov. 19.
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