Car smashes into complex, kills mom and baby walking outside
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- A car driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a Northern California apartment complex, killing a woman and her toddler and slightly injuring two other children as they all walked together outside, police said.
The crash occurred Saturday evening in Livermore, when a driver lost control near a curve and smashed into the apartment complex. The vehicle struck a 40-year-old woman walking with three children on a path at the complex, Livermore Police Officer Ryan Sanchez said Sunday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Esperanza Morales, of Seaside, California and her daughter Julie were killed
Two other family members, 6- and 7-year-old boys, were treated for minor injuries. Police said the woman, from Seaside in Monterey County, was visiting relatives at the complex.
Police initially said the car struck victims in a backyard at the complex.
Police arrested Brian Jones, 35, of Livermore on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and another alcohol-related driving count, Sanchez said.
He posted $350,000 bail Sunday. Jones couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Investigators have evidence that Jones was drinking at a wine festival hours before the crash, Sanchez said.
Nearby resident Pamela North told CBS San Francisco that she was just yards away when she watched the fatal crash.
"The whole car disintegrated," North said.
North said she saw Jones in his Corvette, racing up and down Murieta before the crash.
"He'd been up and down this road all day long," North said.
Jones, who was treated for injuries before being jailed, could not be reached for comment Sunday, and no information was immediately available regarding his attorney.
Also Saturday, another suspected drunken driver killed a 24-year-old woman and injured eight other people in the San Francisco Bay Area community of Bay Point.
The driver was driving in reverse in a full-size pickup truck in a crowded restaurant parking lot, authorities said.
Police arrested Martin Bretado-Munoz, 21, of Pittsburg, California, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony drunken-driving charges.