Three teenage boys have turned themselves in to Abbotsford police after pelting a 17-year-old girl with eggs and then running her over in a truck.
The youths surrendered themselves to police Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. and are now awaiting charges for the hit-and-run while in the company of their parents.
The incident was likely a prank gone awry, said Const. Ian MacDonald, noting the boys in the truck did not appear to know the group of girls they targeted with the eggs, who were waiting at a bus stop.
“I don’t think that the three teenaged boys thought that they would be confronted,” he said. “They thought this group at the bus stop would just get pelted with eggs and that would be the end of it.”
But things took a wrong turn after one of the girls confronted the would-be pranksters at the passenger side of the truck, MacDonald said. The victim was run over when the truck accelerated as she was walking toward it, leaving her with two broken legs.
“(The boys) might have gone into a little bit of panic, but they certainly did the wrong thing.”
MacDonald could not say if the injured girl was struck by accident.
Abbotsford police will be recommending charges of assault against the two passengers, as well as a charge of hit and run causing bodily harm against the driver. The white Dodge pick-up truck used in the incident has also been seized.
Police were called around 1 a.m. Saturday morning after the girl was struck at the intersection of George Ferguson Way and Gladwin Road in Abbotsford. The vehicle fled after the incident.
Police said in a release that three teenage girls were sitting at a bus stop when a white pickup truck approached them and slowed down. One or both of the occupants began throwing eggs.
The victim is in hospital receiving treatment for fractures to both legs.
Police thanked the public and media for drawing attention to this incident. “It clearly influenced the youths’ decision to come forward,” they said in a release.
with files from Almas Merhally and Jessica Barrett
