Two toddlers are dead after their vehicle was struck by an allegedly intoxicated driver who ran a red light in Rialto Sunday night.
The three-vehicle crash occurred just after 11 p.m. at Walnut and Riverside drives, according to Sgt. Daniel Smith of the Rialto Police Department.
The girls, ages 3 and 4, were with their parents in a white Honda Accord turning left onto Walnut when a Blue Dodge Ram pickup truck headed south on Riverside ran a red light and broadsided the Accord, sending it careening into a black tow truck, Smith said.
The girls, one of whom was ejected from the vehicle, were declared dead at the scene, while their father was hospitalized with moderate injuries, Smith said. The girls were in car seats, and the mother was uninjured.
While investigating, officers discovered the pickup driver had fled the scene in his vehicle, though he was located a quarter mile away.
That driver, 28-year-old Alexis Garcia of Buellton, was arrested on two counts of murder, one count of DUI and one count of felony hit-and-run. He did not appear in a search of jail records.
The driver of the tow truck was not injured. Garcia had a passenger in his pickup, but it’s unclear if that person was arrested as well.
Nancy Fontan contributed to this report.