Santa Rosa Man Sentenced For DUI Hit-and-Run Of Toddler; Severely-Injured Girl Makes Full Recovery
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A Santa Rosa man who pleaded no contest to a DUI hit-and-run collision with a two-year-old girl in 2019 was sentenced Wednesday.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said Hector Cabrales-Larios, 39, was sentenced to serve six years in state prison.
Cabrales-Larios pleaded no contest to hit-and-run, driving under the influence of alcohol with a prior felony DUI, and causing great bodily injury to a child under the age of 5.
Larios had three prior misdemeanor convictions and one felony conviction for DUI, according to Santa Rosa police.
On July 11, 2019, on Range Avenue near Coddingtown Mall, the victim became separated from her grandmother and ran into the street, where she was hit by a van driven by Cabrales-Larios.
According to the DA's office, witnesses said the van driver made no effort to stop and accelerated away from the scene.
A Santa Rosa police officer recognized the description of the van from a previous hit-and-run investigation and found the van outside of Cabrales-Larios' home.
According to the DA's office, Cabrales-Larios admitted to driving but denied being involved in a collision, but the van's grill had damage consistent with striking the victim's head, and broken pieces of plastic from the grill matched the pieces of plastic found at the collision.
A blood-alcohol test showed Cabrales-Larios had a BAC of .110%.
The toddler suffered major injuries including heart and lung contusions, a skull fracture, and a brain bleed. She was hospitalized at Oakland Children's Hospital for over three weeks and has since made a full recovery, the DA's office said.
The DA's office said the victim and her parents attended the sentencing Wednesday remotely with the father giving a statement to the court about the impact the incident has had on their family, and the victim's mother expressing hope that such an accident would never happen again
