University gifts football tickets to 11-year-old fan hit by car, police make arrest
By Chelsea Beimfohr
Click here for updates on this story
ATLANTA (WGCL) — At the beginning of September 11-year-old Kaine Chastain was hit by a car outside Mercedes Benz Stadium.
It happened while Kaine and his father, Jonathan, were leaving the Georgia Tech, Clemson Chick-Fil-A kick-off game on Labor Day.
Surveillance video from the Georgia World Congress Center captured the moment that a black car clipped Kaine on Northside Drive and kept going. Atlanta Police say the driver was 38-year-old Lavar C. Clinton.
“I’m just glad they located him and there’s closure now,” Jonathan said.
The incident left Kaine with a broken leg and fractured ankle. It also left his dad with a hefty hospital bill. But Jonathan says they’ve received support from all across the state.
“There were people from the Georgia fan base, Georgia tech fan base, Clemson fan base, and people around the whole city and state that all helped us out,” Jonathan said.
Georgia Tech also gifted the Chastain family suite tickets to last week’s home game against Western Carolina where they met Tech graduate and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
“He talked with us about the case and everything we’ve been dealing with. He’s a really nice guy,” Jonathan said.
The college also gave Kaine and his dad in the Ramblin’ Wreck car brought them down on the field for the coin toss ahead of the game and gave Kaine a jersey along with some other Yellow Jacket swag.
“We’re very appreciative of everything that the school did and all the fan base. And the fans from other fanbases that have helped out with donations and stuff. We’re very thankful. It’s going to help us a lot in the long term with all the insurance and stuff and medical expenses,” Jonathan said.
Atlanta Police say after a thorough investigation they tracked down who was driving the car that hit Kaine and Clinton eventually turned himself in. He faces a hit-and-run charge.
If you’d like to make a donation to the Chastain family to cover medical expenses, visit: gofundme.com/f/help-kaine-chastain-after-a-hit-and-run?qid=a667ff818ff6ecf31e67ec8f36c37ca6
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
