Michigan driver arrested in fatal alleged hit-and-run of 5-year-old riding bike

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A Detroit man was arrested this week for allegedly continuing to drive to work after hitting and killing a 5-year-old boy riding his bike across a street in Warren, Michigan, according to reports. 

Preston Singleton, 5, was crossing the street in a crosswalk with his family as they headed for their home several blocks away just before 10 p.m. ET., according to FOX 2 in Detroit. 

The unidentified suspect was taken into custody after he allegedly ditched his Jeep in a Taco Bell parking lot and went to work at a Chrysler plant in Sterling Heights. 

"It's just like a bad dream," the boy's father, Christopher Singleton, told FOX 2. "It's hard to comprehend. It just happened less than 24 hours. I want to wake up from this. I just want to hug him and bring him back. The kid was full of life. He lit up every room. He was so happy and just enjoyed life." 

Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said the driver was speeding up to make the light and the child was possibly thrown about 80 feet. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. 

"He knew it was a young child and knowing that he continued to go through and go to Sterling Heights, and go to work without any thought, compassion or sympathy toward the 5-year-old victim," Dwyer said.

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The boy’s family said his 10-year-old sister and his cousin both witnessed the incident. 

"We were crossing at a crosswalk, which is the law, which is what we were supposed to be doing," the boy’s aunt, Rachel Draper, told FOX 2.

Police said the suspect's Jeep had damage consistent with a recent accident and the suspect admitted to hitting "something" when confronted by officers at a nearby gas station, according to WWJ-TV.

Police plan to get a blood sample from the suspect to determine if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, Detroit's WDIV-TV reported. 

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Dwyer said the suspect was expected to be arraigned Thursday for vehicular manslaughter. 

The suspect’s grandmother, Eleanor Brown, said he was "distraught" about the crash and claimed he fled the scene because he panicked, according to FOX 2. 

"My grandson is not a bad kid, he has no criminal record, he has no none-of-that. He's not, you know … they stereotype us. And he is not stereotype material," Brown told the station. "I know if he would have known he hit a kid, he would have stopped. He has a 5-year-old cousin. My family is not like that."