Police recover car from deadly West Kensington hit-and-run

WEST KENSINGTON (WPVI) -- Philadelphia Police say they have recovered the car that struck and killed a 2-year-old boy and injured his mother in West Kensington.

The 2006 Infiniti with Pennsylvania tags was recovered at 6:00 a.m. Friday in the 6000 block of Thompson Street in West Philadelphia.

Action News was there as the sedan was cordoned off with police tape, investigators took photographs of it, then towed it to a police impoundment lot.

Investigators say physical evidence proves the car is the same one used in the deadly crash.

"The piece of the headlight that fell off fit perfectly into the car," said Captain John Wilczynksi of the Accident Investigations Division. "So it's a big piece of evidence we recovered from the scene that matches up with the vehicle.... We're confident we have the striking vehicle."

The sedan matches the description of the white Infiniti that police say struck 19-year-old Josephine Rivera and her 2-year-old son, David Alicea, Monday evening on Mascher Street in West Kensington.

That car, caught on surveillance video, and its driver have been the subject of a citywide search for days.

Police are now speaking to two people, a man and woman, who turned the sedan into police at the 19th Police District Friday morning.

The man, who is from Williamsport, is the owner of the car, and he told police he thought it had been used in a hit-and-run crash.

He told police he was visiting family who live near the crash scene and he let a 19-year-old relative borrow the car the day of the crash.

"They were actually out of town for two days after this - they're from out of town - and coming back to town they started seeing the footage on the news and realized, 'Hey, I think this is my car,'" Wilczynski said.

No charges have yet been filed in the case. Police are now looking for that 19-year-old driver and expect to make an arrest soon.

Both mother and son were injured in Monday's crash.

David Alicea survived for three days before succumbing to his injuries early Thursday morning.

Rivera was treated for fractures and has since been released from the hospital.

She attended a vigil Thursday night for her son.

A $20,000 reward has been posted by the City of Philadelphia for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the deadly crash.