Police are searching for the driver who was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Canarsie that resulted in the death of an 8-year-old boy Wednesday.

Investigators say Elijah Thomas was crossing the street with his mother and sister when he was struck and killed by a speeding white Cadillac SUV on the corner of East 95th Street and Seaview Avenue. The child?s family escaped injury.

Witnesses tell News 12 Brooklyn that Thomas let go of his mother?s and sister?s hands moments before the vehicle struck him and continued down the street, dragging the boy behind.

?If the mother had not slightly stopped?she and her daughter would?ve been killed also,? says family friend and witness Nicholson Vincent.

The community is asking the driver of the SUV to step forward. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.