ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996                TAG: 9604040080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER

BOY, 16, STRUCK BY CAR TEEN CROSSED STREET IN FRONT OF VEHICLE

A 16-year-old boy was seriously injured Wednesday afternoon when he ran into the middle of a Southeast Roanoke street and was hit by a car.

A preliminary police investigation showed that the car's driver was not speeding at the time.

Charles Wright had just said goodbye to his friends in the 600 block of Tazewell Avenue about 4:15 p.m. He was crossing the street when he was hit by a car traveling west, police said.

"I just gave him five and told him to come back later," said Martin Gibson, 15, who lives right by the accident site, at 618 Tazewell Ave.

"He was getting ready to go home," Gibson said. "The next thing I know, I turn around and he was flying."

Witnesses said the impact threw Wright about 10 feet in the air. His shoes and hat were knocked off.

Police said they believe Wright was talking to friends as he crossed the street.

Rescue workers found Wright unconscious and bleeding heavily from the head, according to firefighters at the scene. Wright was unable to breathe on his own and was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Wednesday night.

Nelson Patterson, the driver of the car that hit Wright, said the youth ran out in front of him. By the time he saw Wright, ``I was hitting him," Patterson said.

Lt. Ramey Bower of the Roanoke Police Department's Traffic Bureau said there was no indication Patterson was traveling over the 25 mph speed limit. He said he did not expect to charge Patterson with a traffic offense.

"Preliminary indications are that the young man darted out in the road in front of [Patterson]," Bower said.

Neighbor Frances Smith said she has asked the city to install a traffic light or sign warning drivers to slow down on the street. She said three other children have been hit on that block in the past year.

"I asked them to put up signs that said, `Slow, children at play,''' she said. ``Which one has to die before [they] do something?''

Bower said police run regular radar checks on Tazewell Avenue, but they have not found speed to be a significant problem in that area.

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