On Dec. 30 at 5:21 p.m., a three-year-old Indian Head boy, Jeremy Joseph Gomes, 21, of La Plata and two other children were attempting to cross Strauss Avenue to Charles Street in Indian Head when a Dodge Intrepid struck the boy and Gomes. The driver fled the scene.
The boy sustained serious injuries and was transported to Children's National Medical Center by a Maryland State Police helicopter. Emergency Medical Services personnel treated Gomes on the scene. Communications officers dispatched a lookout for the Dodge and Officer R. Brown located it in a parking lot in the 6900 block of Hawthorne Road in Indian Head shortly thereafter. The driver of the Dodge, Joe Griffin Jr., 71, of Indian Head, received a citation for fleeing the scene of a crash. The boy was treated for his injuries and has since been released from the hospital. Officer M. Burrows investigated.