A Texas man is in police custody after allegedly running over a six-year-old boy three times in a Houston parking lot.
Pedro Alberto Hernandez, 52, has been charged with murder and DWI after striking a six-year-old boy with his car in a Southwest Houston parking lot near the 9700 block of Leawood Avenue. Just before 7 PM on Saturday, the boy was walking across the parking lot with his grandfather when Hernandez struck him with his vehicle. The boy’s grandfather screamed at him, causing Hernandez to put the car in reverse and hit the child again, resting a tire of the vehicle on the child’s face. The child’s grandfather continued to yell, provoking Hernandez to run over the child again.
The grandfather reported to police that Hernandez “smirked” at the grandfather and attempted to flee the scene. Still, the grandfather could reach into the vehicle and pull Hernandez from the car, pinning him against the car’s hood until other bystanders came to his assistance and held him down.
Hernandez confessed to police during questioning that he had been drinking, consuming four 16 oz beers earlier that day. A Harris County Vehicular Crimes Division representative reported that this is the fourth incident where Hernandez has been accused of driving impaired. He was convicted of driving while intoxicated in Harris County in 2015, Freestone County in 2016, and Fort Bend County in 2020. Hernandez is presently serving a five-year probation for the 2020 incident.
Hernandez appeared in court on Sunday, where a judge set his bond at $600,000. He could face life in prison if found guilty of both crimes.
