A teen who was sitting in the back of a parked pickup truck had his legs crushed by an alleged drunk driver last month.
ABC 15 in Phoenix reports that the crash happened on Thursday, February 27th, in the residential neighborhood in the vicinity of 43rd Avenue and Union Hills Drive.
A spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department said in a statement that a 19-year-old man was helping to move some furniture at a residence in the area. The teen was sitting in the back of a parked pickup truck with his legs hanging over the pickup tailgate when 31-year-old Bogden Pop struck the back of the vehicle where the man was sitting.
Authorities say that the teen was pinned between the two vehicles. Paramedics responding at the scene reported that they had to utilize “specialized equipment “ to extricate the victim. Emergency crews at the scene also had to employ the use of tourniquets to prevent blood loss from the young man.
The teen was transported to an area hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries. A spokesperson for one of the hospitals involved in the teen’s treatment said that both of his legs were crushed and that he would probably lose both limbs.
His identity has not been released at this time.
Eyewitnesses to the tragic accident said that they saw the suspect, Pop, in the driver’s seat of the vehicle manipulating the gear selector. Witnesses stayed at the scene to ensure that Pop did not flee before the police arrived.
Impairment testing determined that Pop had a blood-alcohol level of .184 percent at the time of the crash, which is more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Pop was arrested on the charge of aggravated assault.
