Hit-and-run victim, 12, is remembered for his 'big heart' Angela Couloumbis INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In school, he was popular, someone everyone liked to be around, not because he wore the coolest clothes or carried the hippest gear, but because his heart was so big. At home, he was the protector, looking after an older sister and cousins to make sure nobody messed with them. And down the Jersey Shore, where his family vacationed, he was the kid with the smile so wide and so heartbreaking, they called him "Peter pretty teeth." Such were the images of Peter Roberto Jr., the 12-year-old boy killed in a hit-and-run accident in Northeast Philadelphia on Thanksgiving night, that his family wanted to remember yesterday. His mother, Dolores Roberto, said in an interview yesterday that she wanted to celebrate the memory of her son, a boy so warm and funny that he had a million friends - and about another million girlfriends. "There was always a new girl stopping by," Dolores Roberto said. "I swear, they all had a crush on him. But that was Peter. People just loved to be around him." You would never know, she said, that her son had battled hearing loss in both ears for almost all his life. He had undergone four surgeries and wore hearing aids in both ears, having suffered from tumors of the ear called cholesteatomas. But his disability never got in the way of his living life, she said. He was a role model to other members of his family who had similar hearing loss, once urging a cousin who hated to wear hearing aids, "Come on, just put your ears on." A rabid Flyers fan, he loved hockey. He also loved adventure, spending hours outside riding his dirt bike. Last summer, he mowed lawns so he could help buy an all-terrain vehicle. He even had a motocross suit to match the blue color of his new four-wheeler. "He would spend hours outside riding it," Dolores Roberto said. "He'd come back covered in dirt. He was like a wild man. He had no fear." When he wasn't out riding, he was helping to build an outdoor fort near his home in the Somerton section of the Northeast. Dolores Roberto said the fort was "more like a condo," complete with carpeting and car seats that served as chairs. Roberto said she did not want to discuss the events leading up to her son's death, saying only that Peter was out walking with his cousin after Thanksgiving dinner at her mother's house when he was struck by a car. He was crossing Harbison Avenue in the Wissinoming section of Northeast Philadelphia. The driver, William Halloran, 29, was behind the wheel of a GMC Envoy when he struck Peter, police say. The boy was dragged for about a block and a half before he was dislodged from the vehicle, police said. He died at the scene. After striking Peter, police say, Halloran parked his car and ran away. He surrendered to police late Thursday night, and has been charged with homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter, and leaving the scene of an accident involving death. But nobody in the Roberto family wanted to dwell on the accident yesterday - the pain was too raw. Dolores Roberto said she and her husband want to do something to honor the son who gave them so much joy over the last 12 years. "He was full of life," she said, "and he had a great personality, a big heart. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for you. I want people to remember that." Peter is survived by his parents, Dolores and Peter Sr.; sisters Brittany, 14, and Christine, 16; and brother Anthony, 10. A viewing for Peter will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Burns Family Funeral Homes in Northeast Philadelphia. There will also be a church service at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Wissinoming Presbyterian Church at Torresdale Avenue and Howell Street. Burial will follow at the William Penn Cemetery on Bustleton Avenue in Somerton. Contact staff writer Angela Couloumbis at 215-854-2827 or acouloumbis@phillynews.com. Illustration:PHOTO Peter Roberto Jr.