2 injured, horse killed after being hit by car in Compton neighborhood desperate for a safe place to ride
Two teenagers were hurt and one of their horses killed when they were hit from behind by a car in a Compton neighborhood desperate for a safe place to ride.
The crash happened on Thursday evening, as Pedro Vallejo was riding along Alondra Boulevard and Oleander Avenue with four of his friends.
They were hit from behind, sending Vallejo, four-year-old horse Everucho, and one of the other boys flying.
"I got hit, I just see myself flying up and I see the horse flying away from me, like far away," Vallejo recalled.
The horse's owner heard the moment of impact.
"Me and my friend were just talking and we heard like a boom, a big impact, and we looked back and all I see was my horse flying and the two kids," said Hector Arrendondo, Everucho's owner.
Though Vallejo and his friend are expected to recover from the incident, he's distraught over the horse's death.
"Really sad. I'm still sad about it, you know," he said. "He tried to fight the battle, but they told me the next day that he didn't make it."
Community advocates say that while tragic, this sort of thing isn't entirely unexpected. It's the reason they've been pushing so hard for an equestrian center in the city, hopeful that something can change before it happens again.
"One of the things we're in need of is safe trail ways, signage, you know, that alerts drivers this is a community of equestrians," said Hector Gomez Mercado, a Richland Farms resident.
The area is largely agricultural, and many residents can and do own horses. Despite this, the area is all but devoid of signs that warn drivers of the potential animals and their riders.
He's one of the many people who came together to co-found "Connecting Compton," a program aiming at teaching children about ranching and it's expansive history in South Los Angeles.
They've been pitching a prospective 18-acre equestrian center within Compton city limits for years, hopeful that it would be a very necessary step towards getting horses and their riders off the streets.
"We have been underserved for a very long time, you know, we go to Palos Verdes, a community that's very horse friendly, and every street you go to there's a caution sign for horses and stuff like that, and unfortunately we don't have that here," said Daniel Zepeda, also with Connecting Compton.
As for the driver in the crash, the other horse riders say that he tried to flee but they blocked his car from leaving until police arrived. It's unclear if he faces charges.