The parents of a teen hit by a Fuquay-Varina police SUV said their son was recovering at home Tuesday.
Coy Henderson said his 14-year-old son, Axel Henderson, was walking to meet him at a neighborhood park. When Axel hadn't arrived, his father noticed a police car with its lights on at the intersection of Woodrow and Church streets. Then a police officer called Coy Henderson from his son's phone.
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"They said your son's been hit by a car," Coy Henderson said.
He found his son lying in a ditch near the intersection. He said two officers who were on scene did not say anything to him at first. Then one officer told Coy Henderson she didn't see her son.
"You're supposed to serve and protect. You hit my son," Coy Henderson said he told the officers.
He called Axel's mother, Michelle Henderson who arrived minutes later.
"They had EMS en route and they're asking him questions to make sure Axel is okay. I was saying, 'Hey, I'm here bud. I love you,'" Michelle Henderson said. "It feels like a movie. I haven't really been able to process it all yet."
Axel told his parents that when he got to the four-way stop at the intersection, he waited for a different car to turn. He said he saw two Fuquay-Varina police cars approaching the intersection and come to a stop.
But as he crossed the road, his mother said, one of those vehicles hit him.
The family is grateful his injuries weren't worse.
"Thank God [he had a] guardian angel," Coy Henderson said.
"He said he ran. He tried to kind of jump out of the way," Michelle Henderson said. "We're just trying to focus on Axel and trying to keep him comfortable and help him through his injuries and recovery. We just want accountability."
The crash fractured both of Axel's eye sockets and left him with a lot of bruising. He is out of school on doctor's orders. His parents hope he will be able to return to school after spring break next week.
North Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
"The Fuquay-Varina Police Department's primary concern is the well-being of everyone involved," the police department said in a statement.