Anchorage

Boy badly hurt when vehicle pins him against an Anchorage hotel wall

A boy suffered life-threatening injuries Thursday night when a vehicle driven by a family member pinned him against a building in a downtown Anchorage parking lot, police say.

The boy had been a passenger in the vehicle at the Aviator Hotel at Fourth Avenue and C Street when it lurched forward and hit a wall of the building, police said in an update late Thursday.

The woman driving was a 29-year-old relative, according to police spokesman M.J. Thim.

The boy’s age was not provided by police. They also didn’t say where the two people were from.

The boy got out to check for damage after the woman backed up, police said. “While the child was in front of the vehicle, the female driver attempted to switch gears and the vehicle lurched forward again, striking the child and pinning him between the vehicle and the side of the building.”

Patrol officers responded to the parking lot at about 9:40 p.m. and found that human error, not impairment, appeared to be the cause of the incident, police said. Medics arrived immediately and transported the child to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

An investigation continues.

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