15-year-old boy arrested in San Jose hit-and-run crash that killed pregnant mother and her child
Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy suspected of being the driver of a stolen vehicle involved in a hit-and-run crash in San Jose last week that killed a pregnant woman and critically injured her unborn child who later died.
The deadly Oct. 24 crash happened at about 8:42 p.m. in the area of Blossom Hill Road and Winfield Boulevard in South San Jose.
UPDATE: Second teen boy arrested in San Jose hit-and-run crash that killed pregnant mother, unborn child
According to San Jose police, a stolen Hyundai sedan was heading south on Winfield when it ran a red light and slammed into a Nissan sedan heading east on Blossom Hill. Two male suspects in the Hyundai then fled on foot, police said.
The woman driving the Nissan, identified as 21-year-old April Zoglauer, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her child was delivered by cesarean section in critical condition but later died of injuries the next day.
Police said Zoglauer and her baby were the 43rd and 44th traffic deaths in San Jose this year; it was the 42nd fatal collision of the year.
Police investigators identified a 15-year-old boy as the driver of the stolen Hyundai. On October 28, special operations officers arrested the unidentified suspect in San Jose and booked him into the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.
Police spokesman Sgt. Jorge Garibay said the department received a number of images and social media links that helped investigators track down the suspect.
"There was a lot of stuff circulating on social media that was either photos or things that took us a long time to identify whether or not they were actually related to this crime," said Garibay. "So we ask if you ever have video surveillance or photos of any possible suspect, please just share that with the police department. If you share it on social media, it takes a long time for us to be able to figure out whether or not they are credible images, and whether or not they are actually associated to our crime."
Garibay said there is one more outstanding suspect, but that person has not been identified. He added that the department is seeing more incidents involving stolen Hyundai and Kia vehicles, a trend blamed on a social media challenge that highlighted the vehicles' lack of a key anti-theft device.
"It's a concerning trend that a lot of these vehicles are being stolen and a lot of them are involved in not only being stolen but also but involved in several other crimes," said Garibay.
Anyone with information about the incident was urged to contact Detective Bowen #4461of the San José Police Department's Traffic Investigations Unit at 4461@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4654.
