Grandfather of boy injured in Castro Valley hit-and-run speaks out after suspect's arrest

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- The California Highway Patrol made an arrest in the East Bay hit-and-run crash that severely injured a little boy.

The man who police say ran over a 6-year old boy with a stolen car is in jail Wednesday night. Daniel Morris, 29, was picked-up early Wednesday morning in Hayward.

For the first time, the boy's grandfather is speaking out. "I hope he stays in prison for a long time. He literally ruined my grandson's life," said Rod Rodriguez, the grandfather of 6-year-old boy who was allegedly hit by Morris.

Rodriguez is the grandfather of the boy police say was severely injured by Morris in a quiet Castro Valley neighborhood on March 7.

According to the CHP, Morris was at the wheel of a stolen Ford Fusion when it struck the boy and his older brother as he walked on the sidewalk, just steps from their home.

"They were walking to school and they said, 'Grandma, look at this earthworm,'" Rodriguez said. They were with their grandmother, Rodriguez' wife, when the car struck the two brothers, pinning the younger boy against a pole.

"She asked for help from the driver who was driving the car and he got out, looked at him, got something from the car and ran off," said Rod Rodriguez.

Nine days later, Morris was arrested in the parking lot of a Hayward motel.

"At about one o'clock this morning, the subject was arrested, Mr. Morris, and he is our primary suspect in the collision that occurred on March 7, the hit-and-run that severely injured a 6-year-old boy," said Lt. James Allen of the California Highway Patrol.

The Fusion was one of five stolen just hours before the crash from a Ford dealership in Livermore, a brazen crime caught on surveillance video. Several men broke into the key drop box and drove away five cars over a 90-minute period.

Rodriguez' young grandson is still in the hospital, having lost his left leg below the knee.

"Up to this day they had five operations, and possibly two more," Rodriguez said. "I know they have good doctors and good machines, but it won't be the same."

The CHP and Livermore police are still searching for several other suspects they believe were accomplices of Morris' in the car thefts.