Truck Slams Into Fenced Yard, Killing Girl, 9

A 9-year-old girl was killed and four other children were injured when a driver crashed his truck through a chain-link fence into a backyard where they were playing, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said Monday.

Zaida Romero of Romoland, an unincorporated community south of Perris in Riverside County, was killed Sunday evening when she was hit by the 1 1/2-ton flatbed truck, said Officer Terry Taylor of the CHP in Riverside.

Zaida was pronounced dead at the scene, said Dan Cupido, a Riverside County deputy coroner.

Highway Patrol officers booked 23-year-old Daniel Vargas of Moreno Valley on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony drunk driving and felony hit-and-run driving, Taylor said.

Benjamin Garcia, 14, of Santa Ana, and Leticia Briseno, 11, of Romoland were treated at Hemet Valley Hospital and released Sunday night, a spokeswoman there said.

Mike Baca, 6, of Romoland suffered a broken leg and was admitted to the hospital’s orthopedic ward, the spokeswoman said. The boy was reported in stable condition Monday.

Alex Briseno, 8, of Romoland was admitted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition Monday with cuts and bruises, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The five youngsters were gathered around a picnic table in the Briseno family’s backyard about 6:45 p.m. Sunday when the truck drove off 4th Street, hit a parked car and crashed through the fence into the yard, police said.

After hitting the children, the truck crashed through the fence of an adjacent yard, Taylor said. The driver reportedly tried to run away three times, investigators said, but was stopped each time by witnesses, one of whom had a shotgun.

A passenger in the truck, Geronimo Cruz, 52, of Romoland, was booked on suspicion of public intoxication, Taylor said.