Car fleeing California police hits pickup, killing 8 including 5 children
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A stolen car fleeing from police ran a stop sign and slammed into a pickup in California's Central Valley, killing five young children in the truck and all three people in the car, police said Sunday.
The Dodge Neon was carjacked either late Friday or early Saturday in Selma, about 10 miles from Dinuba, where Saturday afternoon's crash took place, Dinuba police Sgt. Thaddeus Ashford said.
Four of the five children were ejected from the truck, authorities said. They were identified as Jochelyn Grace Salazar, 7; Monique Janae Salazar, 4; Michael Alexander Salazar, 3; and Sienna Rose Salazar, 1, the patrol said.
A fifth child from the truck, Carlos Eric Salazar, 8, was airlifted to Community Regional Hospital in Fresno before dying.
None of the children in the truck were wearing seat belts or any restraints.
The children's parents, Carlos Salazar, Jr., 29, and Jennifer Salazar, 26, were also injured. One was airlifted to Community Regional with major injuries, the other taken by ambulance to the same hospital with moderate injuries, CHP officer Felipe Martinez said. He wasn't sure which parent suffered the major injuries.
The three men who fled from Dinuba police died at the scene and haven't been identified, Martinez said. None of them were carrying identification, he said.