Santa Ana police worked to get the victim’s bicycle out from beneath the box truck which struck her on July 13, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)
13-Year-Old Girl Struck, Killed While Riding Bike Near Santa Ana School ID’d
Priscilla Vallejo was riding her bike on Center Street through the Edinger Avenue intersection — right in front of Diamond Elementary School– at approximately 7:30 a.m. when she was by hit by a box truck in the area, according to Jeffrey Smith, a watch commander with the Santa Ana Police Department.
The intersection is also across the street from another campus, Gerald P. Carr Intermediate School.
Priscilla was pronounced dead at 7:42 a.m., according to the Coroner Department’s website. She died just four days short of her 14th birthday, the record showed.
Video from the scene showed a bicycle lodged beneath the unmarked box truck, which was next to a sidewalk directly in front of the elementary school.
Multiple Santa Ana police units remained there hours after the collision as investigators tried to determine its cause.
The unidentified driver was an employee of the Santa Ana Unified School District. He remained at the scene and was cooperating with police, according to Smith, who added the man was distraught over the collision.
On Monday afternoon, Santa Ana Unified School District Deputy Superintendent Dr. Stefanie Phillips released a statement in connection the crash, saying the safety of students is the district’s “top priority,” and also calling it “deeply troubling.”
“Our crisis team of trained responders has been dispatched to Carr Intermediate and Diamond Elementary Schools, and counseling services are being provided to students,” Phillips wrote.
The statement continued: “Santa Ana Police Department is investigating the accident. We continue to cooperate fully with the Santa Ana Police Department.”
An investigation into the crash was ongoing.