Driver talks after 12-year-old Dublin boy hit near school

DUBLIN, Calif. (KGO) -- A 12-year-old boy is recovering after being hit and pinned by a car. It happened right outside Dublin High School on Wednesday morning not far from Wells Middle School, where the boy is a student.

The boy, whose family does not want him identified, reportedly has multiple fractures on his arms and some abrasions. But police say his injuries could have been far worse.

The driver was not charged or cited. He tells ABC7 News it was an accident, pure and simple, and he never saw the boy coming.

It was shortly before 8 a.m., as the 12-year-old boy was riding his bike on Village Parkway on his way to school.

"It was the usual sort of busy start to the morning," said Michelle McDonald with the Dublin Unified School District.

As the boy was passing Dublin High School, 72-year-old Armisticio Gregorios was driving out of the school parking lot. He had just dropped off his granddaughter.

"I looked to my left, traffic was clear," he said. "So I made a right turn. Then, I heard a sound. There were two ladies walking in the sidewalk. They said, 'Stop stop, you hit somebody.' So I jumped out of the car and I saw a boy underneath the car."

First responders came quickly and used airbags to lift the car off the child. He was airlifted to the hospital.

Dublin Police Captain Garrett Holmes says the way the boy was hit may have saved his life.

"I'm assuming that he didn't get run over by a tire, you know, because he was found directly in the middle of the vehicle," said Holmes. "So he was pinned underneath there."

Firefighters were surprised he wasn't burned.

"The exhaust system underneath the vehicle or, the catalytic converter, which can run about a thousand degrees," Holmes said.

Dublin resident Linda Salotti picks up her grandchild from school. She says you have to be cautious on that street.

"The kids are in the parking lot, the parents are in the parking lot, the buses are in the parking lot, special ed is there," she said. "So yes, it's pretty hectic."

The boy is being treated at Oakland Children Hospital.