TYNGSBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A Lowell man has been ticketed for operating to endanger after a 17-year-old boy fell out of the bed of a pickup truck that was doing donuts in a Tyngsborough parking lot Wednesday night, officials said.
Emergency crews responding to the parking lot of Ayotte’s Stateline Smokin’ Joe’s about 9 p.m. found the Lowell boy on the ground with traumatic injuries, according to Tyngsborough Police Chief Richard D. Howe.
A preliminary investigation suggests the boy was riding in the bed of a 2000 GMC Sonoma compact pickup truck that was being driven erratically when he was thrown from the vehicle, Howe said in a statement.
“At some point it looked like he was attempting to do a donut and the vehicle shook,” Howe explained. “It has big thick tires, I guess, and it just caused the 17-year-old in the back to be immediately ejected.”
The victim, whose name was not released, was taken by ambulance to Lowell General Hospital before being taken by medical helicopter to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with serious, life-threatening injuries.
The teen is expected to survive but has a tough fight ahead, Howes said Thursday morning.
The 19-year-old Lowell man who was driving the truck, whose name was also not released, was ticketed for operating to endanger and operating an unregistered motor vehicle.
Tyngsborough police say they will seek to have the Registry of Motor Vehicles declare him an “immediate threat.”
“There wasn’t intent on either side but a lot of victims, including the family right now, from a very avoidable and tragic incident,” Howe said.
Additional charges may be added.
The incident is being investigated by Tyngsborough police.
Chief of @TyngsboroughPD says teen who was thrown out of pickup truck last night is now expected to survive. Still a tough fight ahead. @7News pic.twitter.com/E1454mo5J7
— Kim Lucey (@KimLucey) April 25, 2019
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