Hit-and-run driver voluntarily surrenders to Lapu-Lapu City police

This is a screenshot of the hit-and-run incident caught on CCTV in Lapu-Lapu City. The driver of the SUV voluntarily surrendered to police on Wednesday evening, November 17, 2022.

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—The driver who drove the sports utility vehicle that hit a kid crossing the street in Lapu-Lapu City voluntarily surrendered to police on Wednesday evening, November 16, 2022.

The driver was identified as Dario Lebito, 34 years old, a family driver and a native of San Miguel, Bohol who is currently residing in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City.

Lebito said he voluntarily surrendered after the owner of the vihicle received a subpoena from the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7).

READ: LTO-7 summons owner of vehicle that hit 13-year-old kid crossing the street

Lebito was driving the SUV that was caught on camera hitting a 13-year-old student who was crossing the street through a pedestrian lane in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City on November 14.

Lebito, however, clarified that while he did leave the scene, he actually checked on the kid before doing so.

“Ako gyud siyang gihunongan ug gipangutana nako ang bata kung okay raba siya. Unya niingon siya nga okay ra daw siya ug nilakaw na dayon siya,” he said.

(I stopped and asked the kid if he was okay. He said he was okay and then he left right away.)

The victim was on his way to school at the Basak Night High School when he was hit.

Lebito appealed to the parents of the victim to forgive him and no longer file a case against him. He promised to shoulder the medical expenses of the child.

Earlier, Cherry May Fuentes Pelayo, the mother of the 13-year-old student, claimed that her son was experiencing pain in his neck days after the incident.

She said that at first, she thought that the incident was not that serious when her son told her what happened.

However, when she investigated the incident, Pelayo said that she was shocked by what she saw in a CCTV footage from the Command Center of Barangay Basak.

The video went viral when it was also shared by Justin Chan, the son of Lapu-Lapu Mayor Junard ‘Ahong’ Chan.

Lebito said he had no idea that the incident had gone viral on social media.

“Wala man ko nahibawo ani nga na-trending na diay ko. Nakadawat nalang man ko ug summon (gikan sa LTO-7), Lebito said.

(I had no idea that i was trending already. I just knew about it when I was summoned.)

Lebito said that after they received the subpoena on Wednesday afternoon, he immediately went to LTO-7. But he did not make it to the cut-off of office hours.

The LTO-7 is also conducting a motu proprio investigation on the accident after seeing the video posted by Pelayo on Facebook. 

/bmjo

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