7-year-old in critical condition after hit and run in the Bronx

WILLIAMSBRIDGE (WABC) -- A 7-year-old girl is in critical condition after a hit and run in the Bronx.

"Honestly, I thought she was gone, for a second she wasn't moving but then she came back, she came back to us," said Elvis Perez, the victim's cousin.

She was just footsteps from her aunt's home and standing alongside another aunt, when 7-year-old Abryanna Carrasco was mowed over by a dark-colored Jeep Wrangler right in front her family.

"She came around the truck from the front and the car just took her," Perez said.

What first grader can resist the jingle of an ice cream truck, especially after a summer BBQ?

But as Abryanna was crossing back over to run to her mother across the street, her cousin says she was struck by the vehicle.

This happened Sunday night just after 10, on East 214th Street in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx.

"I was just trying to clear the road, people were piling up here and I just ran up the street screaming, 'Get out of the way, the ambulance is coming you have to move,'" Perez said.

The search for the driver Monday was desperate as police placed a massive digital sign near the scene requesting information.

Family members and neighbors failed to catch up with the mid-sized SUV as it sped off.

"Right past me, she was moving. I think she floored it, and that's how fast this thing moved. And it went over this speed bump, boom boom, boom, it was gone and people just chasing them," said Juan Fuentes, an eyewitness.

Police believe the driver briefly stopped, but kept driving after being approached by several people. That's inexcusable for this family.

"She could have a least gone to a precinct, said, 'Oh my God this happened here and here," Perez said.

"When I actually came to the hospital and I saw my mom on the floor, she was really crying and depressed, and my father too," said Jeremy Carrasco, the victim's brother.

Abryanna has two broken legs, a broken hips and lots of cuts and bruises. She underwent surgery Monday morning, the first of many on the long road to recovery.