Boy, 5, walking on footpath hit by tyre in freak 'burnout' incident

A five-year-old boy has been seriously injured in Queensland after he was struck by a tyre from a car allegedly doing a burnout.

Queensland police allege a driver of a blue Ford Falcon was stationary at an intersection in Caboolture, north of Brisbane, when the driver started to spin its tyres as the lights changed to green.

The rear passenger side wheel then dislodged from the vehicle and struck a five-year-old boy who was walking along the footpath.

The child was with his family outside Caboolture Square Shopping Centre about 4.30pm (AEST) on Wednesday, Queensland police said in a statement.

He suffered life-threatening head injuries and was taken to Brisbane Children’s Hospital in a serious condition.

But the boy is now in a stable condition, according to The Courier-Mail.

The alleged driver of the Ford Falcon was an 18-year-old man and police arrested him at the scene.

Police have since charged the man with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm, driving unlicensed, driving unregistered, and offences involving registration certificate and safe but otherwise defective vehicle.

The man will appear in court on Thursday.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with vision of the incident to come forward, while the Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

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