Police released surveillance photos Thursday that may help locate the driver who struck a 14-year-old boy in Santa Ana and took off over the weekend.
The boy suffered a severe brain injury in the hit-and-run, and is fighting for his life, his family said Monday.
The high school freshman, only identified by his family as Juan, was struck as he walked to school on Saturday.
The surveillance photos released Thursday morning showed a black BMW. The driver is not visible in the photos and the license plate number is difficult to make out.
Investigator Laure Bao of the Santa Ana said that if the driver stayed, he or she would have likely only been questioned at the scene and released.
Bao said a witness told police that the boy was stepping into the street to pick up a skateboard that he had apparently lost while riding when he was struck by the car.
"It's hard to fathom how someone can place somebody else's life so low of a priority they couldn't even stop to render aid to this person," Bao said. "It's just it should just be human nature that if you're involved in an accident you should make sure that the other person's OK."
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Detectives said they were searching for a 2001-2006 BMW 300 series. It has a missing mirror and fog light with damage to the passenger side fender, police said.
Police found the teen lying in the street unconscious at the intersection of Fairview Street and Civic Center Drive at 8:10 a.m. Saturday.
The boy’s family said he loves science and the band "Coldplay."
Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said Juan is a freshman at a local charter school who spends his Saturdays at school studying for upcoming state tests.
"The detectives are passionate about this. We're going to go through every camera. We're going to go through every piece of technology to find you," Bertagna said of the search for the driver. "Do the right thing and turn yourself in."
Juan remained in critical condition at UC Irvine Medical Center in a medically induced coma as of Thursday.
