Hit-and-run suspect drove with teen bicyclist on his roof for 4 miles, police say

AVON, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - A 16-year-old from Connecticut is fighting for his life after police say he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle and carried more than four miles on the vehicle’s roof before the suspect allegedly pushed him off and left him on the side of the road.

Avon Police identified the suspected driver as 29-year-old Alex Joel Rivera. He is accused of hitting a 16-year-old bicyclist with his car and fleeing the scene with the victim still on the roof of his vehicle, WFSB reports.

Police say they were alerted around 9:15 p.m. Friday to debris on the road near Arch Roach and Security Drive. Responding officers found a damaged bike, loose amounts of candy and a cellphone in the roadway.

Officers determined that a driver hit a bicyclist. Neither the driver nor the cyclist was at the scene, which prompted a temporary road closure for an investigation. Shortly after, authorities say they received another report of an injured child on the side of the road in the vicinity of 73 Harris Road.

Police say two good Samaritans found the teenager, identified as 16-year-old Liam Shields, and called 911. Officers confirmed he was the bicyclist from the earlier incident.

Police say when the teenager was struck, he got trapped on the car’s roof and was carried more than four miles from the crash site.

Rivera told police the bicyclist “came out of nowhere,” and he assumed he “rolled off” the vehicle, according to an arrest warrant released Tuesday.

The vehicle owner, a woman who was in the car at the time, told police that on West Avon Road, she noticed a foot hanging by Rivera’s driver side window and told him to pull over.

Rivera said when he realized someone was on the roof, he “freaked out,” pushed him off and then called the police. According to the warrant, he knew he struck the victim but didn’t want to go to jail and lose his daughter.

Rivera is charged with first-degree endangerment, evading responsibility for causing serious physical injury, operating a vehicle without a license and two counts of risk of injury to a child. He appeared in court and was being held on $100,000 bond.

The disturbing details of the incident have shaken up the community.

Liam Shields, a sophomore at Avon High School, is hospitalized in critical condition while family and friends are coming together to pray he’ll make a full recovery.

“The kids are always asking me, ‘How is he? How is Liam doing?’ I tell them, ‘Getting through,’" said Jenny Eldridge, who is close friends with the Shields family.

Eldridge works with Liam’s mom, Andrea Shields, and one of her sons is the same age as Liam and his twin brother. Her son has been playing basketball on the same team as Liam for years.

On Friday night, she got a call from Andrea Shields informing her that Liam was hurt in an accident.

“It was devastating. I felt bad. I felt sick to my stomach,” Eldridge said. “Especially me having my kids as the same age, and they are friends. I see him, and I also see my kids. It’s tragic and sad.”

Community members are coming together to help the Shields family through this tragedy by hosting fundraisers, setting up a meal train and sending prayers.

Eldridge set up a GoFundMe for the family. So far, they’ve raised just under $45,000.

“When you get an unexpected situation like this, it’s like your heart is there, too,” Eldridge said. “It’s scary how quickly this can change, how your life can change in a matter of a second. You could be here and happy and talking and doing everything, and the next thing, you get devastating news or something that happened to you.”

The community plans to hold a prayer service for the Shields family as well as multiple fundraisers in the coming days.

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