IRWINDALE — Coroner’s officials Sunday released the name of a 5-year-old La Puente boy who was fatally struck by a car while crossing Arrow Highway with his father and sister.
Ernesto Rodriguez died at a hospital shortly after he was struck by an SUV about 1:30 p.m. Friday in the 1500 block of Arrow Highway, just east of the 605 Freeway, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.
The boy, his father and his younger sister, who was in a stroller, were on their way to the San Gabriel Dam Recreation Area when the collision occurred, Irwindale police officials said. They were walking north across Arrow Highway mid-block, without a crosswalk.
They had made it across the eastbound traffic lanes and were standing on the center divider when a car driving in the left lane of westbound traffic stopped to let the family cross, according to police and fire officials.
Rodriguez darted out into the westbound lanes, leaving his father and sister behind on the center divider, police said.
The driver of Jeep Cherokee being driven in the right lane of westbound Arrow Highway did not see the child and struck him, officials said. The driver, a woman estimated to be about 50, struck the north curb as she swerved to miss the boy, but was unable to avoid him.
Paramedics rushed the severely injured boy by helicopter to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
Rodriguez’s father and sister were not injured, officials said. The driver of the Jeep was taken to a hospital for examination after complaining of chest pain.