UPDATE: Lewiston tot back home after father backs into him

LEWISTON — Police identified the driver of a car that backed over a 2-year-old boy Monday, injuring him seriously, at Hillview Apartments on Rideout Avenue at about 11:40 a.m. 

Before police could respond, the child, Lucas Holmes — who suffered injuries to his head and torso — was moved inside to an apartment. The boy was “screaming and yelling quite a bit,” according to Lewiston Police Sgt. Michael Whalen.

Police said the boy’s father was backing up in a parking lot in front of his apartment and didn’t realize his 2-year-old son was behind the car until he heard a thump.

The child was transported by ambulance to Central Maine Medical Center, then taken by LifeFlight to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Lt. Michael McGonagle said the boy was in “bad” shape, likely in critical condition.

Ron Holmes, 24, of 3-1 Hillview apartments, told police he was repositioning the car before taking a family trip. He hadn’t noticed that his son had probably tried to follow him out of the apartment. The couple has a younger child that the mother was caring for inside the apartment, McGonagle said.

En route to Maine Medical Center, the LifeFlight crew’s radio broadcast reported that the child was resting comfortably and had suffered no loss of consciousness in the accident.

Police took the boy’s father to the hospital before the child was taken aboard LifeFlight. Then police took the father for a blood alcohol test — which is required for all motor vehicle injury cases. But police said shortly after the incident, they didn’t believe alcohol was a factor.

Lewiston police later conducted an accident reconstruction investigation.

A next-door neighbor, Nichole Smith, said she heard a child screaming, but didn’t witness the accident.