Advertisement

Two children killed after LA police vehicle crashes onto sidewalk

By Ray Downs
Jose and Marco Hernandez, ages 7 and 9, were killed Thursday night when a Los Angeles County Sheriff's vehicle crashed onto the sidewalk and hit them. Photo by Jessa Ramos/GoFundMe
Jose and Marco Hernandez, ages 7 and 9, were killed Thursday night when a Los Angeles County Sheriff's vehicle crashed onto the sidewalk and hit them. Photo by Jessa Ramos/GoFundMe

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Two young boys were killed and their mother is in critical condition after a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department SUV crashed onto the sidewalk in an East Los Angeles neighborhood Thursday night.

According to a news release from the LACSD, deputies were responding to an emergency call when the police SUV crashed into an oncoming vehicle, which then "caused the deputy's patrol vehicle to run off the roadway and hit three pedestrians, a mother and her two children."

Advertisement

The boys were identified as Marcos and Jose Luis Hernandez.

A second car struck a third vehicle, causing injury to two other pedestrians in the crosswalk.

Surveillance video obtained by the Los Angeles Times shows the moments just after the sheriff's SUV hit the boys and their mother. The vehicle's lights appear to be on as the body of one of the victims is seen reeling from the impact of the collision.

One of the boys was declared dead at the scene and the other died later at the hospital. Their mother was listed in critical condition and suffered a "broken pelvic bone, head injury, fractured neck, fractured leg and a broken nose," according to a GoFundMe page set-up by her daughter, Jessa Ramos.

Advertisement

"I don't have no words right now. You should understand what we're going through right now. It's painful," Luis Hernandez Jr., the brother of the woman who lost her two sons, told KABC-TV.

In total, seven people were taken to local hospitals, five with minor injuries, including two LACSD deputies.

At a news conference Friday, witness Julie Valle, 34, said the police vehicle was speeding down the street with no sirens and no light. She said the vehicle's lights came on just as it was about to go through the intersection, which is when it hit the other car.

Chris Alvidrez, told KTLA-TV that he witnessed the accident, and also said the police vehicle was going very fast and didn't have lights or a siren on.

"That's a busy intersection right there," he said.

Law enforcement sources told the Times the police vehicle was being driven by a trainee deputy who was riding with her field training officer.

The collision is being investigated by the LAPD's Multi-disciplinary Collision Investigation Team.

Latest Headlines