By Joyce Tsai
MediaNews
AYER — A 15-year-old boy was hospitalized with apparently serious injuries after being struck by two vehicles on West Main Street in front of Parthenon Pizza in downtown Ayer early last night.
The boy was taken to an undisclosed hospital. Friends at the scene identified him as Corey Buxton of Shirley.
Police were called to the scene about 7:15 p.m. and were investigating the accident for several hours, after having cordoned off the section of the street where the boy was hit.
Police would not comment or provide any information about the accident last night.
One of the employees at the pizza parlor, who did not want to be named, said she called 911 after hearing of the accident. She said she and her husband know the boy. Buxton, whose family lives near the Shirley train station, would often take the train from Ayer to hang out with friends. He would come by the pizza parlor and say hi to them, since he is a friend of the couple’s son.
“It sucks because he’s a good kid,” the employee said. “He stays out of trouble.”
Louis Vaira of Ayer said that he felt terrible for the boy, and his daughter, Louisa, was driving the first car that struck him.
“It’s just terrible,” Vaira said. “I’m just extremely upset. I just hope he’ll be on the mend.”
He said his daughter, who was crying nearby, was distraught by what happened.
Vaira said he had heard that Buxton was walking on the curb with a friend, when he jumped into the street and then was hit by the first car, a Chevrolet Malibu. It caused him to land in the opposite lane, where he was struck by a second vehicle, a Ford SUV.
Two friends of Buxton said that they had come to the pizza parlor after hearing the news, and were shocked and saddened to hear their friend had gotten hit by two cars.
“He was a nice kid — kind of young,” said a teenage friend who didn’t want to be named. “I didn’t see that he ever got in any trouble with anyone.”
Another friend, Tim Kreideler, 18, of Shirley, said he’d been friends with Buxton ever since they met about 10 to 12 years in day care.
“He’s a wicked good kid,” Kreideler said. “I just couldn’t see something like that happening to him. I just hope nothing bad happens, and that he gets better soon.”
