BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A 17-year-old Buffalo teenager has serious injuries after being hit by a City of Buffalo garbage truck Wednesday morning.
It all happened just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday on 14th and Rhode Island Street.
Buffalo Police said the truck backed up and hit the 17-year-old. The boy was taken by ambulance to Oishei Children's Hospital where he underwent surgery for internal injuries. According to police, the teenager is listed in critical condition.
One witness told 7 News that the garbage truck backed up at a high rate of speed.
Surveillance video was recorded at a nearby landscape business, capturing the incident. In the video, you can see the truck backing up twice at the corner of 14th and Rhode Island. That's when the teenager was hit.
Another witness said he watched the driver back the garbage truck down Rhode Island and hit the child.
"The garbage truck was backing up from way over there, from the other corner, and then stopped right here by the time the kid was going to cross," the witness said. "He hit him and rolled over him when he was going back and then forward. There was some other kid right near the hydrant, right there, who actually told them, stop you've got somebody under there."
Buffalo Police impounded the garbage truck.
A city spokesperson said Department of Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton has suspended the 46-year-old sanitation driver without pay pending further review of the incident.
Buffalo Police have revealed the driver did not have a license at the time of the crash.
The incident remains under investigation by the Buffalo Police Department and the Erie County District Attorney's Office.
