San Clemente : Probe of Accident That Killed 2 Tots Continues

Police are continuing to investigate a Monday accident in which two children were killed and their mother seriously injured after a car hit them in a crosswalk.

Police Lt. Al Ehlow said that Margarita Farias was walking west on the crosswalk at North El Camino Real and Avenida Florencia with her three children when a car driven by Bert Belcher Ziegler, 55, of Capistrano Beach struck them.

Two of the children, Guadalupe Farias, 5, and her brother Andres, 2, died Monday night at Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo of internal injuries. The mother was also taken to the hospital and was reported to be in serious condition Tuesday.

The youngest child, Jose, 1, received minor injuries and was released to his father, Jose Farias of San Clemente, Monday night.

Police and family members said that Margarita Farias, who works part time at a clothes cleaning shop, had picked up her children from her sister’s home about 5:50 p.m. and was walking with them to their nearby home. Streets were wet and slippery and it was dark, Ehlow said.

As the four reached the center of the crosswalk, Ziegler’s car struck them, police said. Police said Ziegler told them that he saw the four people as he was driving toward them on El Camino, but he thought that they were not going to cross the street until he passed. Ziegler told police that when they did not stop, he could not avoid hitting them.

The father, who helps construct boat frames at the Clark Foam Co. in Laguna Niguel, was not home at the time but learned of the accident within half an hour after it occurred, police said.

Beatrice Farias, his sister, said Jose and his wife are immigrants from Mexico and have been living in the United States for about 10 years.

The south county district attorney’s office is also investigating the case.