As his family kept vigil at the hospital where 7-year-old Marcus Lassiter of Selma lay brain dead Monday evening -- after being struck by a car Sunday -- police stood ready to pursue more serious charges against the driver they say hit Marcus and ran away.

Sgt. K.D. Bell with the N.C. Highway Patrol's Johnston County office said a man who gave the name Pollo Hernandez Rodriguez of Four Oaks is charged with felony hit and run, felony assault, driving while intoxicated, possession of a stolen vehicle, driving without a license, speeding and reckless driving. He is in the Johnston County jail with bail set at $1 million, Bell said. Investigators are still trying to verify his identity, Bell said; the first name he gave translates from Spanish as "Chicken." The man's citizenship status is also uncertain.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday, Bell said, a vehicle lost control in a curve on two-lane Heath Road north of Four Oaks. A witness reported that Marcus was standing on the roadside when the vehicle ran onto the shoulder and struck him. The car came back onto the roadway, then veered right again before crashing into a ditch. A second child, standing with Marcus, was uninjured.

Investigators determined the driver came into the curve at about 70 mph, 25 mph above the posted speed limit.

The car, a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro, had been stolen from the Four Oaks area, Bell said.

The driver got out and ran into nearby woods.

State troopers and deputies from the Johnston County Sheriff's Office set up a perimeter around the woods, Bell said, and when the man came out, they arrested him.

Rodriguez had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21, Bell said, more than twice the legal limit. A person is considered intoxicated at a level of 0.08.

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