Boy struck by car while skating

An 11-year-old Carson City boy was taken to the hospital Wednesday afternoon after being hit by a car while inline skating.

A bystander working near Plaza Street said "it sounded like a car hitting a car."

Witness Kirk Ledbetter, of Stateline, said he was headed north on Carson Street when as he neared Proctor Street the truck ahead of him slammed on its brakes and stopped.

The truck halted because the driver saw a boy on inline skates zipping across the crosswalk.

"The boy was Rollerblading in Proctor (Street). He didn't stop. He went in front of the white truck. The truck was able to stop, but the red car never saw him," Ledbetter said. "He smashed into the side of the red car and bounced off.

"He's lucky he wasn't one second faster or he'd have been in front of the car."

The boy, was treated by paramedics but lay strapped to the backboard on the sidewalk for about 12 minutes until an ambulance from the East Fork Fire Department in Minden arrived.

Emergency Medical Services Chief Vince Pirozzi said the department had about five calls all at once.

"It never fails," he said. East Fork, in Minden, "was the closest thing we could find. All of our engines are staffed with paramedics. The biggest thing is that we've got the help here. The transportation's another thing."

The boy was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital then transferred by Care Flight to Washoe Medical Center where officials say he is in satisfactory condition.