Left: The suspect vehicle (Bay City Department of Public Safety). Right: Bentley Burkhart (GoFundMe).
A Michigan teen who allegedly bragged about hitting a 14-year-old riding a minibike faces felony charges.
Owen Wheeler, 19, was charged with assault with intent to murder in connection with a hit-and-run incident that injured 14-year-old Bentley Burkhart. According to the Bay City Department of Public Safety, police responded to reports about a pickup truck striking someone who was riding a minibike in Bay City, Michigan, at 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 22. Officers believed that the driver ran into the teenager “intentionally.”
According to court documents obtained by local news outlet MLive.com, police arrived to find a crowd of witnesses surrounding Bentley, who was sitting on a park bench.
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Police said Bentley was complaining of severe back pain and trouble breathing. The teen was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with two spinal compression fractures. He has since been released from the hospital. Bentley’s mother told MLive.com that her son had bought his minibike just two days before the crash.
At the scene, police said, witnesses shared photos of the suspect’s vehicle, a green 1997 Dodge Ram, which allegedly fled the scene after hitting Bentley. According to the court documents, the witnesses said the truck appeared to be aiming for the teenager. Police said surveillance footage captured the driver — whom they have since identified as Wheeler — hanging out of the front window and shouting at Bentley.
A witness who recorded the alleged incident on his phone told police that Wheeler was “screaming profanities” at Bentley, adding, “The truck was moving pretty quick, like he wanted to just run him over.”
Police said the truck was found with its license plates missing.
According to court documents, police began receiving tips that Wheeler was “bragging about running a kid over on Snapchat.” After initially seeming to take credit for the crash, Wheeler then posted that his truck had been stolen and was used to “hit the kid,” court documents say.
Police said that as the investigation into the alleged hit-and-run progressed, officials obtained surveillance footage that showed three people getting out of the suspect’s vehicle. Police asked the public for help, and a public safety officer identified one of the people as a 16-year-old boy. A 20-year-old man was identified using facial recognition, and police asked him to come in for questioning.
Police said the 20-year-old identified Wheeler as the driver. According to court documents, Wheeler picked up the other two passengers in his Dodge Ram. When Wheeler saw Bentley, the 20-year-old said, Wheeler “became enraged … like flipping a switch.” The 20-year-old told police that Wheeler believed the teenager riding the minibike was someone other than Bentley, saying, “As soon as he saw him it was immediate rage.”
According to court documents, the 20-year-old said after Wheeler drove away from the scene, they abandoned the truck and were picked up by Wheeler’s girlfriend.
The 20-year-old told police that he was “in shock after [the crash] happened.” When asked if Wheeler had discussed the alleged incident after it happened, the witness said, “The collision did not seem to affect [him], he was just concentrating on the road.”
According to online jail records, Wheeler is in custody at the Bay County Jail. His next court appearance was not immediately available.
The post Teen bragged on Snapchat about ‘running a kid over’ with his Dodge Ram because he thought 14-year-old on minibike was someone else: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
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