(By John Terhune/Journal & Courier) The driver of an older model Chevrolet Impala is comforted by two unidentified people Wednesday after he struck a young boy riding his bicycle with three other youngsters along South Ninth Street just before 3 p.m. The boy was dragged beneath the car for several yards before it came to rest in the front yard of a home at the corner of Ninth and King streets. The boy was trapped under the car for several minutes before Lafayette Fire Department firefighters were able to free him. The boy was taken to Home Hospital, where he later died.

Jimmy DeBoy Fund A fund has been set up on behalf of the family of Jimmy DeBoy. Donations can be made in his name at any branch of Lafayette Bank and Trust Co., according to Tony Albrecht, bank president and CEO. Have a tip? Police want to speak to two Hispanic males seen running from the scene of the crash that killed 9-year-old James “Jimmy” DeBoy. Call (765) 807-1200 if you have any information.

Boy, 9, was riding his bike when he was hit by a car; driver arrested

By Dan Shaw
dshaw@journalandcourier.com
and Sophia Voravong
svoravong@journalandcourier.com

A Lafayette man arrested and charged last month for drug possession is now accused of causing the crash Wednesday afternoon that killed a 9-year-old boy.

James "Jimmy" DeBoy of Lafayette was riding his bicycle on a South Ninth Street sidewalk when a car driven by Cesar Delarosa jumped a curb, struck the child and dragged him about 45 feet across King Street, police said.

Delarosa, 23, of Lafayette was arrested shortly after on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, a Class B felony. He was being held in the Tippecanoe County Jail late Wednesday on a $250,000 surety bond.

Officer Tim Bonner of the Lafayette Police Department, a crash reconstructionist, said a blood test done after the crash found that Delarosa had both alcohol and drugs in his system. He declined to release what type of drugs were detected.

"The OWI was more for the drugs than alcohol," Bonner said, explaining that Delarosa's blood-alcohol content was below the state limit of 0.08 percent to drive.

However, it is illegal to drive in Indiana with even the presence of illegal drugs in a person's system.

Delarosa was arrested June 4 for drug possession, Bonner said. He is charged in Tippecanoe Superior Court with possession of marijuana, possession of controlled substances and maintaining a common nuisance related to that case.

According to witnesses, James was riding a bicycle north on the sidewalk on the east side of South Ninth Street. Shortly before 3 p.m., the car, also headed north, went over the curb of that street and struck the boy in front of a house at the southeast corner of South Ninth and King streets.

The car dragged him along the sidewalk and across King Street. The Impala came to a stop when it ran into the sloping lawn of a house at the northeast corner of South Ninth and King streets.

Rescue workers used a jack, wooden slabs and wooden posts to raise the car, and then pulled the boy from underneath. They took him to Home Hospital, where he later died.

Three other children who were riding with James were not hurt.

Kim Puterbaugh was driving north on Ninth Street, saw the crash and stopped to help the victim. She said she could not tell why the car went over the curb.

"I don't know what happened," she said. "He came out of nowhere and hit" the boy.

After the crash, the driver sat in the front yard of 900 King Street with his face cradled in his hands while two people tried to comfort him. He was wearing an ankle brace and was given help walking to a police car.

Delarosa was not injured, Bonner said. Police do not know where Delarosa had been prior to the wreck because he got an attorney right away.

Police also are looking for two passengers, both Hispanic males, who ran away from the crash scene.

Police recovered a beer bottle from near a maple tree standing across King Street from where the car stopped.

Bonner said the beer bottle belonged to someone in Delarosa's vehicle.

The car knocked down an iron railing in front of a house at the corner of Ninth and King streets. The front driver's side of the Impala was dented in the collision.

Police kept Ninth Street closed for several hours after the crash while they looked for evidence at the scene.