3-Year-Old Run Over by Car May Have Gotten It Moving, Police Say

A 3-year-old San Fernando girl was probably able to shift a parked car into neutral because the keys were left in the ignition, causing the vehicle to roll downhill and crush her to death, police said Thursday.

Paramedics on their way to another call saw Maria Garcia holding on to the driver’s side door handle as the car rolled down the sloped driveway of a family friend’s house, dragging her underneath and crushing her beneath its left front tire at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Lorena Sandoval had just driven Maria, her mother Luz Valdez and a 1-year-old sister to Sandoval’s Bradley Avenue house, said Detective Ron Vega of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sandoval told police that she remembered turning the engine off, but may have left the keys in the ignition, Vega said. While Valdez and Sandoval went inside the house, Maria was left on her own in the driveway and her sister was left strapped in a baby seat inside the car, Vega said.

Vega said Maria most likely opened the driver’s side door and turned the key in the ignition to the “on” position, accidentally shifting the car into neutral from park. Although the engine would not have started, her action would have been enough to send the car rolling down the driveway, Vega said.

He said the city attorney will determine whether to file child-negligence charges against Valdez.