IRWINDALE — A 5-year-old boy suffered major injuries when he was struck by an SUV on Arrow Highway Friday, authorities said.
The boy was struck about 1:30 p.m. in the westbound lanes of Arrow Highway, just east of Rivergrade Road, in front of the entrance to the San Gabriel Dam, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department officials.
The boy was flown by helicopter to a trauma center in critical condition, fire Capt. Gerald Gonzales said. When loaded into the helicopter, he had a pulse but was not breathing.
The boy was with his father and younger sister, who was in a stroller, as they tried to cross Arrow Highway mid-block, fire Capt. Gerald Gonzales said. They had already crossed eastbound traffic lanes.
A westbound vehicle stopped to allow the family to cross, and the little boy ran out ahead of his father and sister, the captain said.
A Jeep Cherokee headed west on Arrow Highway in the No. 2 lane failed to see the boy until it was too late, officials said.
The driver, a woman estimated to be about 50, swerved her SUV in an attempt to miss the boy, but was unable to avoid striking him, according to Gonzales.
Officials said the boy was either thrown or carried about 50 feet following the impact. The Jeep collided with the north curb as the driver swerved, flattening at least one tire.
The boy’s father and sister were not injured.
Firefighters took the driver of the Jeep to a hospital after she complained of chest pain, Gonzales added.
The crash was being investigated by the Irwindale Police Department.

IRWINDALE — A big rig driver escaped a fiery crash without injury early Wednesday after falling asleep at the wheel on the Foothill (210) Freeway, authorities said.
A 32-year-old Rancho Cucamonga man was headed west on the freeway in a 2000 Freightliner, just east of Irwindale Avenue, about 3:30 a.m. when he fell asleep and allowed the truck to veer toward the left, California Highway Patrol officials said in a written statement.
The out-of-control truck veered across two traffic lanes and the carpool lane before striking the concrete center divider, officials said. It scraped along the center divider for a distance of about 1,000 feet before coming to a rest west of Irwindale Avenue.
The driver managed to get out of the badly damaged truck and made his way to the right shoulder.
“(The Freightliner’s) fuel tank was damaged during the collision and the fuel contained inside ignited, eventually engulfing (the truck),” according to the CHP statement.
The fire consumed the tractor of the truck, however the trailer did not burn, Sgt. Mike Dulong said. It contained non-flammable concrete slurry.
All lanes of both directions of the 210 Freeway were shut down at the crash scene, CHP officials said. Officers gradually opened lanes as the cleanup operation allowed.
The carpool add fast lanes of the eastbound and westbound sides of the freeway remained shut down until after 7 p.m.

IRWINDALE — A police officer pulled a man to safety Saturday as he sat poised with one leg already over the edge of a freeway overpass in an apparent suicide attempt, authorities said.
Witnesses called police about 10:45 a.m. to report a man on the Arrow Highway overpass of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway was climbing over the railing, Irwindale police Sgt. Greg Gomez said.
Officer Diego Cornejo was the first to arrive on the overpass, the sergeant said.
“When he went on scene, he did not have lights or sirens on as to not frighten the subject,” Gomez said.
The officer had already exited his car and was approaching the man, later determined to be a Montclair resident in his 50s, when he spotted the officer, Gomez said.
“The subject started to place one of his legs over the railing,” Gomez said. “The officer acted quickly and grabbed him.”
After pulling the man back onto the overpass, officials took him for a psychiatric evaluation, he said.

IRWINDALE — A multi-vehicle crash involving a motorcycle briefly shut down the 210 Freeway early Wednesday as authorities landed a helicopter in the roadway to rush an injured person to the hospital.
The crash was reported just before 8 a.m. on the eastbound 210 Freeway near Irwindale Avenue, according to California Highway Patrol logs.
Details of the crash were not immediately clear, though it was initially reported to involve six vehicles, according to CHP and Los Angeles County Fire Department officials.
The crash forced the closure of eastbound lanes of the freeway, and the westbound lanes were shut down briefly as rescuers landed a helicopter on the freeway for a seriously injured patient, CHP Officer Monica Posada said.
One person was taken by the helicopter to a hospital, while another person involved in the crash was hospitalized via ambulance, fire officials said.
All freeway lanes were re-opened about 8:40 a.m.
The crash was being investigated by officers from the Baldwin Park office of the CHP.

IRWINDALE — Police early Friday sought the driver of a car that fatally struck an 81-year-old woman as she crossed Live Oak Avenue, then fled the scene.
The hit-and-run took place just before 6 a.m. at Live Oak and Stewart avenues, near the Baldwin Park border, Irwindale police Detective Sgt. George Zendejas said.
The woman, initially believed to be a Baldwin Park resident, was crossing the street inside a marked crosswalk when struck, the sergeant said.
“The vehicle collided with the pedestrian in the crosswalk as the vehicle was westbound on Live Oak,” Zendejas said.
It was described as an early-2000s-model silver Toyota Echo. It has front-end damage, including a smashed windshield.
The impact threw the woman more than 50 feet across the intersection. The came to rest in westbound traffic lanes of Live Oak avenue.
The woman’s shoes were among other pieces of evidence numbered with yellow evidence markers in the intersection.
Any witnesses to the crash, or anyone with information that might help track down the driver, is asked to contact Irwindale police at 626-962-3601.