WG hit-and-run victim 3 years old

WINTER GARDEN  Daniel Monsalve, 3, was excited about the ice cream truck visiting his neighborhood on East Cypress Street, like almost any young child.

His brother Luis Garcia, 16, was walking with him across the street around 5:16 p.m. Jan. 11, when that excitement turned into terror: A silver Chrysler 300 hit Monsalve and then did not stop.

The ice cream truck driver witnessed the incident and located the suspect vehicle -- which bears an Iowa license plate -- left about a half-mile away at the Winter Garden Elks Lodge, near the intersection of East Cypress and Ninth streets, Lt. Scott Allen said.

"I (had) detectives working on trying to ID the driver," Allen said. "The injuries were non-life-threatening. ... No obvious damage to the vehicle from the accident, but it was identified as the vehicle involved."

While officials had the car -- registered to Billy Joe Gibson, 35 -- towed for processing, investigators found witnesses who said Gibson was driving it, Allen said.

During work on a warrant for Gibson's arrest,Gibson contacted police to turn himself in, Allen said. Gibson's Florida driver's license has been suspended many times, and he is in the process of interviewing and being charged, Allen said.

Medical personnel took Monsalve to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, from which he has been released, according to reports.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].