A 12-year-old boy who was taken to River Region Medical Center with &#8220life-threatening injuries” after a wreck Wednesday night has been moved to University Medical Center for treatment.

John Wayne Erwin Jr. was in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at UMC, a hospital spokesman said, but he said the Mississippi Department of Human Services, which has been called in, asked that no information about the child be released.

The child was apparently hurt in a one-vehicle wreck of a van being driven by his father, John Wayne Erwin, 36, 1801 Jeff Davis Road, who may have continued to drive aimlessly.

Through accident reconstruction, officials now know the wreck involving Erwin, a convicted felon, happened on Dudley Road, Pace said.

&#8220It appears he ran off the road, striking an embankment,” Pace said.

It was not clear at this point if drugs or alcohol were involved, but Erwin’s blood sample has been sent to the crime lab, Pace said.

&#8220It’s an ongoing investigation,” he said.

The child was taken to the hospital at 6:37 p.m. Wednesday by a resident, a woman whom Pace declined to identify, who had seen the injured child riding in the wrecked van.

The woman insisted on taking the the child for medical treatment, &#8220refusing to take no for an answer,” Pace said. The woman was the second person to offer help after seeing the van carrying Erwin and two children was traveling with only three wheels, Pace said.

The first offer of help came from a resident on Dudley Road, Pace said.

A second child, a brother of John Wayne Erwin Jr., was also injured in the wreck and treated and released from River Region, Pace said.

The father was arrested at the hospital Wednesday night. He was charged with felony leaving the scene of a crime and felony possession of a firearm.

He was on probation after a conviction for burglary. He remained in the Warren County Jail with no bond set, Pace said.