Second Girl Struck During CHP Pursuit Dies

A 9-year-old girl hit last week by a teenage driver fleeing from a California Highway Patrol officer has died, days after her best friend died as a result of the same accident.

Adina Gonzalez died Wednesday of massive head injuries at Children’s Hospital and Health Center, hospital spokesman Mark Morelli said.

Richard Alan Clements II, 18, has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and felony evading. He was being held at the Vista Detention Facility on $1-million bail and is to be arraigned Monday.

The Dec. 9 chase began when Officer Mike Clauser saw a pickup truck moving erratically and on the wrong side of the road, authorities said. The pursuit lasted just over a minute and ended when the pickup rounded a corner and struck the two fourth-grade girls, who were walking home from school.

Nine-year-old Christie Turner died two days later.

The accident remains under investigation, but CHP spokeswoman Gwen Goodwin defended Clauser. “The officer was within policy. He backed off when he saw the school zone was ahead,” Goodwin said.

Clements’ truck ultimately smashed through a fence and plunged into a drainage channel. He was not hurt and was arrested immediately. His 17-year-old male passenger had minor injuries.