15-year-old boy hurt in Elgin hit-and-run

Elgin police are looking for the driver who fled after hitting a 15-year-old boy Monday morning.

Ian Morales, a sophomore at Larkin High School, suffered a broken leg in the crash about a block from his home while he was on his way to school at 6:54 a.m. at the intersection of Crighton Avenue and Chicago Street. He is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday morning at Amita Health St. Joseph Hospital, said his mother, Lisa Roman.

The crash happened two blocks from Elgin Fire Department Station Six, so the first crew was on the scene within two minutes, Battalion Chief Dick Cummings said.

Ian was conscious and talking, and the vehicle that hit him was nowhere in sight, Cummings said.

"I was in a lot of pain," Ian said. "I was angry, scared and upset."

A neighbor heard Ian's screams and called 911, his mother said.

Ian described the vehicle as a black, four-door car. Police are looking for the vehicle and its driver, spokeswoman Kristie Hilton said.

Ian said he'd just left his house and was walking west along Chicago Street to go to school. "I was listening to my music, trying to go to school and have a great day," he said.

As he crossed Creighton Street, he saw a car that had been driving east on Chicago Street make a northbound turn onto Creighton Avenue.

"I saw it coming and I tried to run. It left going like 70 mph after it hit me," he said.

Ian's tibia and fibula in his left leg are broken, and his other leg is bruised, his mother said. He will have to go to physical therapy for six to eight weeks following surgery.

"They hit my son full force. They didn't even bother stopping. They just kept going," she said. "He still shaken up by everything."

Ian has five younger siblings. His aunt and father are helping out, Roman said, while she is at the hospital with Ian.

Still, what matters is that "he's alive and breathing," she said.