A man was arrested in Collier County on Thursday after being accused of intentionally hitting a child on their e-bike with his car.
According to the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report, deputies responded to the scene in Naples and found that the child victim had been transported to Naples Comprehensive Health Pediatric Emergency Room.
Deputies noticed scratches on the vehicle of the suspect, identified as Julio Maurice, 49, the report said. Deputies noticed scratches on Maurice's vehicle as well as a bent rear tire on the child's e-bike.
A witness told deputies that on the day before, they saw Maurice swerve his vehicle toward the victim, miss, and then rev his engine before crashing into the victim on his e-bike, sending the child flying into the air.
Deputies then spoke to the victim at NCH, who told them he had been suspended from school. He said this was the reason Maurice hit him with his car, the report said.
The victim said that he was riding an e-bike on the sidewalk with friends when Maurice drove his car up onto the sidewalk and crashed into him. Maurice then exited the car and said to the victim, "You don't go to school and you're coming out here, you don't come home, you don't do this," the report said.
Maurice then made the child put his e-bike in the back of his car, and then left the area, the report said.
The child was not given medical care until the next day due to delayed law enforcement contact.
Maurice was arrested and faces a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm.
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