CALIFORNIA, Pa. — A hit-and-run suspect accused of hitting a 7-year-old boy turned himself into police on Monday.
California Borough police said 26-year-old Allen Csonka was under the influence of drugs and speeding when he hit the boy.
First-grader Chevy Marody was playing tag on the sidewalk near his parents’ skateboard shop.
Witnesses said he leaned over to tie his shoe, with his head sticking out from the sidewalk, when he was hit by the car.
Police said before he fled, Csonka picked up Chevy and carried him to safety before fleeing the scene.
The boy was flown by medical helicopter to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.
“By the time we got down there my son was calmed down and pretty excited to go in a helicopter. It’s the first thing he said whenever I seen him with a big smile on his face,” said Chevy’s father Dillion Marody.
That smile turned into tears the next day when Chevy removed the bandage the next day and saw his stiches for the first time.
“He got so upset, he started crying. It was just me and him in the bathroom and he said, ‘Dad, no one is going to want to be my friend,” Dillion Marody said.
But the next day, all the neighborhood friends showed up at the skateboard shop to show support. And his dad showed up with a brand new tattoo that matches his son’s scar.
“He loved it. He was so excited. He calls us scar buddies now,” Dillion Marody said.
Csonka has been charged and is currently in the Washington County Jail.
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