2-year-old struck, killed by speeder during brief sheriff’s pursuit
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A 2-year-old girl was killed and her mother hospitalized in serious condition after a speeding driver broadsided their car in Lancaster on Thursday, authorities said.
About 5 p.m., a Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective driving back from court spotted a black, two-door Toyota sedan speeding down Sierra Highway just before Avenue J, authorities said. The detective saw the Toyota cross the road’s center divider, authorities said, but he could not chase the suspect because he was not in a patrol car.
He notified other units in the area about the speeding car, and members of a sheriff’s gang task force pursued it. By then, the Toyota driver was speeding down Avenue I at 70 to 85 mph, authorities said. The driver ran at least one red light, at Avenue I and 10th Street West, authorities said, and slammed into a car carrying the 37-year-old Lancaster woman and her child.
The speeding car was more than a block ahead of the nearest patrol car when it collided with the other car, authorities said.
The toddler was pronounced dead at Antelope Valley Hospital, authorities said. Her mother is expected to survive. Their names were not immediately released.
The speeding driver, a 45-year-old man from Palmdale whose name was also not released, was hospitalized with moderate injuries.
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-- Ashley Powers