Criminal Charges Pending In Fatal Ceres Accident
CERES, Calif. (CBS13) -- Ceres Police say charges are pending against the driver of a truck who hit four teenage girls killing one of them Wednesday morning.
Detectives say the driver, 45-year-old Larry Duke of Ceres, is cooperating but they are still piecing together the circumstances surrounding the deadly accident.
They say criminal charges are pending the review of statements and the results of medical and forensic evidence.
However, the family of the 13-year-old Danielle Tarancon, who died in the crash, want charges filed now.
"I ain't got no mercy for the driver man. I want full justice," said Danielle's uncle Steven Prue. "It's my niece man, and she ain't breathin'."
The Ceres Police Department said a group of four girls from Mae Hensley Junior High, ages 13 and 14, were crossing the street at the intersection of Darwin Avenue and Fowler Road just before 9:00 a.m. when Duke, driving a full-size Chevrolet pickup truck, struck them.
Tarancon, was killed, another was airlifted to the UC Davis Medical Center with critical injuries, a third was taken to a local hospital for non-critical injuries, and the fourth student, Alexis Deleon suffered a bump to the leg.
A fifth victim apparently suffered minor scrapes when the truck came to a stop after the accident.
Deleon said the truck didn't stop at the intersection's stop sign and barreled down on the girls quickly, giving them little chance to react.
"We were crossing, he was already turning the corner," she said. "We couldn't make it."
Witnesses say Tarancon pushed her friends out of the way before being fatally injured when she was hit by the truck.
Deleon said she saw the driver wearing earphones, but Ceres police said they haven't substantiated or disproved allegations that the driver was distracted.
Authorities have not determined whether Duke ran the stop sign.
The school and district has made grief counseling available for students.
