Police To Discuss Arrests Made In Hit-And-Run Deaths Of Three Girls

Police To Discuss Arrests Made In Hit-And-Run Deaths Of Three Girls

By Louis Sahagun and Marisa Gerber, Los Angeles Times

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Santa Ana police are expected to release more information today regarding the arrests made in the hit-and-run deaths of twin sisters and their friend on Halloween night.

Police officials have so far declined to release any information on the suspects, saying only that several arrests were made at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. More details are expected at a news conference today at 11 a.m. PT.

Police said earlier that they were looking for the driver and another person who were in the Honda CR-V that plowed into Lexia and Lexandra Perez and their friend, Andrea Gonzalez, Friday night as they crossed the road at Old Grand Street and Fairhaven Avenue.

The 13-year-old girls were struck in the crosswalk at about 6:45 p.m. by a driver “going at a high rate of speed,” police said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver and a passenger of the CR-V left the vehicle in a nearby Big Lots parking lot and fled the scene, police said.

Andrea’s brother, Josafat Gonzalez, 21, said of the arrests: “It won’t bring my sister back, but the people who committed such a terrible crime will get their time in court and justice will be served.”

It was a particularly deadly weekend in Orange County, where a total of five pedestrians and cyclists were struck and killed since Halloween night.

In Irvine, Calif., a father and son were also hit in a crosswalk while trick-or-treating Friday night. John Roger Alcron, 65, died from injuries while his 4-year-old son was in critical condition. The driver has cooperated with police and was released after questioning.

On Saturday, 44-year-old Daniella Palacios was struck and killed in Anaheim while riding her bike. The incident occurred about 9 p.m. near the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and La Palma Avenue, said police Lt. Bob Dunn. A witness told officers they saw a white pickup flee after the collision.

MCT Photo/Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times

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