COSTA MESA : Hit-and-Run Driver Still Not Found

A motorist who handed a critically injured infant to a bystander and fled the scene of a crash remained unaccounted for Friday while the infant continued to be listed in critical condition with a fractured skull.

The 2-month-old infant, Wendy Gonzales, was in the intensive care unit at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Her mother, Maria Perez, 27, and sister, Anna, 3, were both treated for injuries after Thursday’s accident and spent Friday at the infant’s bedside, according to relatives.

“She’s still in shock because of yesterday,” Perez’s sister-in-law, Rosa Perez, said.

Family members said they had been accompanying the driver, known only as Jesus, to a job interview when they collided with a vehicle driven by Ronnie Renish, 59, of Costa Mesa at Sunflower and Hyland avenues. Jesus pulled the bleeding infant from the wreck, handed her to a stranger and ran.

The bystander, Scott Thackrey, 23, of Anaheim, then administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the baby was rushed to the hospital.

Renish was treated for a fractured leg Thursday at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center.

The two other passengers, Alexandria Gonzales, 20, and Claudia Gonzales, 17, were both treated for minor injuries.

Moments after the collision, Costa Mesa police searched for the driver but could not locate him, said Police Investigator Steven Rautus. He added that if the man is found, he could be charged with felony hit-and-run.

“It is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said. “There is not much we can do when we only have his first name.”

Jesus arrived from Mexico about a month ago and had been sharing the Perez family’s Santa Ana apartment, Rose Perez said. He told the family that he works at a clothing factory and purchased the car the day of the accident. Jesus has not returned to the house to pick up his few belongings since he disappeared.

Maria Perez and her four children have been living with her sisters-in-law since their arrival in Santa Ana from Guadalajara, Mexico, six months ago. In addition to Wendy and Anna, Perez, who is unemployed, has a 6-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter. Her husband died eight months ago in Mexico, according to Rosa Perez.

“That is why she came (to this country), she was alone,” she said.