ABismarck boy suffered from minor bumps and bruises after being knocked off his white Mongoose bike by a car that drove away after hitting him.

"I'm fine," said James Nemec, 11.

James said he and three other boys were headed south down Third Street Friday afternoon on the sidewalk on the left side of the street. They stopped before crossing Sweet Avenue by Burger King, he said.

When the crosswalk signal turned to "walk," James said he started to go across the street. He said his pant legs were stuck in his bike, so he started getting off to walk it across the street.

James and his friends said James' bike was barely sticking out into Sweet Avenue as he prepared to cross. They said a red two-door car driven by a young-looking female who was talking on her cell phone took a right turn onto Third Street on the red light, hitting James in the process.

James said he was knocked backward off his bike onto the ground.

"She stopped, looked back at me, Iwas on the ground kneeling, and she took off,"he said.

The four boys tried to get a license plate number, but they said the car did not have a rear license plate, said Bismarck Police Officer John Brocker.

They said it did have a front plate, he said.

Officer Dave Horner, who is investigating the case, said it would be odd for a car to have a front license plate but no rear plate like the boys described.

All four boys described the vehicle as a red two-door car, but other details weren't as consistent, Brocker said.

"You get four different stories for four different angles," he said.

"It's kind of a bugger when you get that many of them that young," Horner agreed.

Zach Chapman, 12, believed the car may have been a Chevy and looked "kind of sporty." He also thought the windows may have been tinted.

Horner said the boys thought the driver was probably around 18 years old with long brown hair.

Brocker said the car may have slight damage.

Horner requests that anyone with information about the accident call him at the Bismarck Police Department at 223-1212, or call Bismarck Area Crime Stoppers at 224-TIPS (224-8477).

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com)