PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland police say a 75-year-old man apparently mistook the gas pedal for the brake when his car struck a 22-month-old boy who later died.
The Oregonian says Thomas Van Wickle was turning right at an intersection Monday when his car hit the boy, his father and another man. Eric DuBarry and his son, Seamus, were flipped onto the car’s hood and carried for nearly 100 feet before the car hit a utility pole and stopped.
Seamus died the next day at a Portland hospital. His father and the other man received minor injuries.
Police say Van Wickle told detectives he confused the gas for the brake. He has not been cited in the crash.
