DETROIT – A 9-year-old boy will likely spend Christmas in the hospital, with two broken legs and other serious injuries. And his older brother is to blame.
Police said the older brother was driving a car that crashed and wrapped around a tree during a police chase.
"My 9-year-old is asking me is he dreaming," said Tonya Bender. "He's asking me if (he's) going to walk again."
Antonio Steen was a typical kid. He was at the doctor's office for a check up just two weeks ago. But now he's in the hospital with scrapes, bruises and two broken legs.
"He's already had his surgery," Bender said. "He probably won't walk for three or four months. He's in a lot of pain. All we're trying to do is comfort him."
Police said Steen was in the car with his older brother, Chris Bolton, who was driving Sunday night. Bolton's girlfriend, Asia Roundtree, and two of his cousins were also in the car. Investigators said Bolton blew through two red lights. But when police tried to pull him over, he tried to get away, leading police on a chase with his 9-year-old brother in the back seat.
"He said he remembered the police came behind and he remembers them telling Chris to stop," Bender said.
But he wouldn't. They ended up on Courville Street, where investigators said Bolton lost control of the car, smashing into the tree so hard that the white sedan split in two. His girlfriend was killed.
"My son's bipolar," Bender said of Bolton. "He doesn't always think straight. Chris knows how hard I worked to get that car, so he panicked. He bares responsibility and he's going to have to live with that for the rest of his life."
Bender said she has some questions about the crash but said now she's focused on getting her little boy better.
"It's horrible. There's nothing I can do to ease his pain," Bender said.
She said she hopes her other boy learns from his mistake.
"So why was he running from police? He didn't have his license," Bender said. "That's clearly what it all boils down to and he was scared."