Boy Critical After Being Hit by Truck; Driver Arrested for Pot, Police Say

An 8-year-old boy is in critical condition after being struck by a pickup truck Monday afternoon driven by a man believed to have been smoking pot, Joliet Police Cmdr. Al Roechner said.

Jose Quinones, 17, of 5308 Maple Glen, Plainfield, was charged with possession of 30 to 500 grams of cannabis and failure to reduce speed in connection with the accident, which occurred at about 2:50 p.m. in the 5000 block of Brighton Lane in the Brighton Lakes subdivision, Roechner said.

Quinones was driving through the subdivision when he came around a bend at the same time that the boy was crossing the street on his bicycle, he said.

Initially, the child was taken to Presence St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet for treatment of a broken wrist, Roechner said. However, he became incoherent while being treated and was transported to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago for a serious head injury that was causing bleeding around his brain and a lacerated liver, Roechner said. 

When police approached Quinones in his truck, they could smell cannabis and found a marijuana cigarette in the ash tray, he said. They also found a bag containing 30 grams of cannabis and a scale.

Quinones was transported to the hospital for a drug screening and then booked into the Will County jail, where he is being held on $25,000 bond.