Manhunt in Qns. tot hit-run
Shea asks for tips on dirt biker who critically hurt boy
Cops are pressing their hunt for the reckless dirt bike rider who critically injured a 4-yearold boy in Queens’ Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on Sunday — and offering a $10,000 reward.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said he’s hoping an influx of tips will help slam the brakes on the suspect before anyone else is harmed.
“We need the public’s help on this one, we really do,” Shea said on NY1 on Tuesday. “Anyone with any information who may have been in Flushing Meadows Park on Sunday or maybe on prior weeks where you have videos or pictures of anyone with dirt bikes. This is a very active investigation with a poor 4-year-old child injured.”
Jonathan Beauchamps was in the parking lot for the park’s boathouse when a dirt bike rider slammed into him about 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, his father, Christopher Beauchamps, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview.
No video cameras were installed in the lot or the park. Investigators are looking for other footage showing the rider getting on or off nearby roadways including the Van Wyck Expressway, Grand Central Parkway and the Long Island Expressway, cops said.
“He’s doing better now. He’s pulling through. He’s a strong kid,” the dad said Monday. “He doesn’t have any broken bones or anything.”
Beauchamps rushed his injured child to the hospital himself.
“I couldn’t wait for the ambulance, it was too much of a risk,” Jonathan’s dad said. “I had to drive a little crazy, but I made it to the hospital in less than 10 minutes. I got him there on time. He was there crying in the hospital, saying he wanted to go home.”
Jonathan suffered head trauma and remains in critical but stable condition at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, authorities say.
“No parent should have to endure such a senseless act,” NYPD Chief of Transportation Kim Royster said Tuesday. Investigators hope someone in the public might come forward with cell phone video, she said.
Illegal dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle riders have been a constant problem in and around
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park as cops continue to seize the unregistered and uninsured vehicles from city streets, Shea said.
“In the last three months we’ve seized 565 dirt bikes and ATVs in New York City. Last week alone we seized over 50,” Shea said. “In that part of Queens we were seizing additional. But there’s far too many of them out there.”
Shea encouraged anyone with information about where illegal dirt bikers and ATV riders congregate or store their vehicles to alert police.
“We’ll try to make that 560 another 560,” Shea said of the seizures.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.