Suspected drunken driver hits family, kills child

Carolyn Hileman - The Voice* | June 30, 2008

RIALTO - A driver fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run accident struck a Rialto family of four out for a Sunday bike ride, police said. The crash killed a 2-year-old girl and left her mother, father and 1-year-old brother with serious injuries. Police said it was clear that Jesse Rolando Astorga, 27, of Phelan was intoxicated when officers arrived at the accident in the 200 block of South Willow Avenue. He was arrested.
“He didn’t have a clue,” police Lt. Joe Cirilo said. “He wiped out an entire family.”

After leaving the earlier accident and traveling about three miles, Astorga hit a median, lost control of his Honda sport utility vehicle and struck the family riding their bicycles on the sidewalk at 12:05 p.m.

Astorga continued north at high speed until he struck a curb and the vehicle stalled.

The victim in the first incident, who had been tailing Astorga and talking with a police dispatcher, told the dispatcher that the family had been hit. Police arrived moments later, Cirilo said.

At least two bicycles, a three-wheeler and what appeared to be a smaller child’s bike were still on the sidewalk at 6:45 p.m. as police continued their investigation.

The frames and wheels were bent, and different-sized shoes had spilled out onto the sidewalk and into the street. One black sandal was lying in the street encircled in orange paint to pinpoint its location.

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