Boy injured in truck crash dies in San Diego, California
A boy severely injured after he and his father were involved in a vehicle crash has died, according to hospital officials and family members.
Four-year-old Valentino Fabiani Arroyo, who was hurt after the truck driven by his father crashed on June 2, passed away at Rady Children's Hospital, a hospital. The exact time and date of the child's passing was not immediately disclosed.
Valentino and his father, 40-year-old Angelo Fabiani Arroyo, were traveling on I-5 in the Midway area when their truck, which was hauling a small water-craft trailer, rolled down an ice plant-covered embankment and came to rest with its passenger side atop a concrete retaining wall.
Investigators say the father exited the vehicle and got into the back to unhook his son's car seat. However, the young boy fell about seven feet onto the concrete below.
At that point, the father fled the scene, leaving his badly injured son at the wreckage, according to investigators.
Several citizens came to the boy's aid, and the child was rushed to the hospital.
Angelo Fabiani Arroyo was arrested two days later in Imperial Beach. He was charged with hit-and-run causing serious injury and child endangerment. He faces seven years in prison if convicted, and prosecutors say he is already on probation for a drunken driving conviction.
Two friends of the defendant said he was a great father who must have panicked when Valentino was hurt.
Fabiani Arroyo went "crazy, crazy" and ran all the way to Imperial Beach, arriving with blisters on his feet, Martha Tolles told reporters after a hearing late last week.
"This was a horrific, horrible accident," Tolles said.