Alleged Drunk Driver Fatally Strikes Girl, 6, Playing On Fullerton Front Lawn
FULLERTON (CBSLA) -- An entire Fullerton neighborhood is in shock after a 6-year-old girl was struck and killed by an out of control SUV.
Officials said the driver was under the influence of alcohol.
The girl has since been identified as Grace Aguilar, but neighbor say she was known in the neighborhood as Gracie.
They say she was playing in her neighbors front yard with her younger brother when she was hit by the vehicle. Neighbors heard the impact and ran outside to help. They didn't want to show their faces on camera.
"I came over and saw the little girl laying down in her own pool of blood and when I saw that I forced myself to check her pulse, and I heard a pulse," said one woman.
The crash occurred in the 1400 block of Lombard Street just before 2:15 p.m., police said.
Neighbors said the girl's mother ran to her side immediately.
"She was very distraught and she was yelling for, 'Gracie, talk to me open your mouth' but then the little girl of course is, I just hear, she's coughing up more blood," the neighbor said.
The little girl was taken to the hospital but died a short time later.
As for the suspected driver, police took him away in handcuffs. Police later identified the man as 52-year-old Maximino Delgado. They said the Anaheim man had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .23%.
He was arrested for felony DUI, felony vehicular manslaughter and driving on a suspended license. He's being held at the Fullerton City Jail in lieu of $2 million bail.
Vanessa Salgado was visiting her aunt just a couple doors down when she heard the impact. First she noticed the SUV had crashed into her car, but she says that quickly became the last thing on her mind when she saw the little girl on the ground, unresponsive, covered in blood.
"I literally just saw them, they were playing and then I came outside and she was on the floor and everyone was surrounding her and they said that she was unresponsive and she was bleeding on her head, and from her ears, and it was horrible," said Salgado.
