Suspect Held in Death of Boy, 7 : Traffic: Police say the man was drunk and driving a stolen van. Authorities will seek a murder charge.

A 37-year-old man was in custody Monday in the death of a 7-year-old boy who was struck and killed by a van as he played in front of his South Los Angeles home.

Police allege that Ricardo Castro, an undocumented alien from Mexico, was drunk and driving a stolen vehicle that hit Fabian Denson on Sunday evening in the 6300 block of South Hoover Street.

The sound of the van plowing through a concrete wall, then caving in the front of Fabian’s aunt’s apartment, alerted neighbors, who chased Castro for several blocks after the accident, police said.

Castro reportedly threatened the neighbors with a screwdriver before they were able to subdue him and hold him for officers, police said.

Because of the circumstances of the crash, Los Angeles Police Detective James Lawson said investigators would recommend to the district attorney that three charges be filed against Castro--including one count each of murder, hit-and-run causing death, and driving while intoxicated resulting in death.

The boy’s death was one of three traffic fatalities in Los Angeles County on Sunday involving youths.

A 6-year-old girl was hit by a speeding motorcycle in Pacoima and an 18-year-old bicyclist was struck by a pickup truck in Granada Hills.

The South Los Angeles incident took place at about 5:30 p.m. as Fabian and a friend played ball.

“I was teaching Fabian how to catch and throw,” said Ranita Smith, 10. “He missed the ball and went after it. Then, all of a sudden I heard this big noise. I ran one way and I thought he went the other way.”

Police estimated that the van was traveling in excess of 50 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone.

The victim’s aunt, Jean Bray, 59, said she had admonished her nephew minutes earlier about playing too close to the street. She said she had told the boy and his playmate to move to the driveway at the back of the building where Bray and the boy’s mother live.

“ ‘OK, Aunt Jean,’ is the last thing I heard,” Bray said.

But the children continued to played by the side of the building, she said.

Bray said she later decided to include Ranita’s grandmother in supervising the children’s play.

“I was waiting for her to get off the phone so I could tell her about her little granddaughter playing ball on the sidewalk,” Bray said. “Before I could say anything, we heard the crash and ran outside. People were running about, screaming and Fabian was pinned down under the van.”

Police said Castro and a passenger climbed out of the overturned camper van, which had been reported stolen in Long Beach, and fled. The passenger was being sought for questioning, Lawson said.

In the Pacoima accident, 6-year-old Rachel Perez of Canoga Park was struck by a motorcycle and killed as she tried to flag down an ice cream vendor near Haddon Avenue and Kamloops Street.

“We were crossing the street,” a companion, Jenny Chavez, 9, told police. “. . . I heard the motorcycle coming. I looked and I had Rachel’s hand. I tried to pull her back, but (the motorcycle) hit her.”

The driver, Juarez Hector Pelar Estrada, 19, of Pacoima, admitted speeding and was booked on suspicion of manslaughter in the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, where he was being treated for two broken ribs, Officer Dennis Smith said.

In Granada Hills, Jose Vivaldo Rodriguez Ayala, 18, was riding to work on a bicycle when he was struck and killed by a pickup truck at San Fernando Mission Boulevard and Haskell Avenue, Smith said. No charges will be brought against the driver, the officer said.