A mother in Garden Grove said she’s reeling from shock and sadness after her family’s evening bike ride on Sunday turned into a nightmare when a suspected drunk driver struck them just blocks from home.
The hit-and-run crash left Angela Hernandez Mejia’s husband and three children, ages 6, 5, and 8 months old, in critical condition.
Meija’s back and hand injuries are making it difficult for her to walk, but that’s not a concern for her as her son Jacob remained unconscious.
“It hurts. It hurts so bad,” Mejia said. “We’re here in the room, trying to stay with Jacob. He’s not doing okay. His brain is not responding. I just pray to God that he makes it.”
Security footage from a nearby mini mart on Haster Street near Twintree Lane showed Mejia’s family returning from a beach outing around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Mejia and her partner Angel were on bicycles, each towing trailers carrying their children. They were less than a block from home when tragedy struck.
“It just happened so fast,” said Mejia. “I felt like something struck us. I was the first one to get up and tried to get everybody.”
Witnesses reported a chaotic scene immediately following the crash, with bystanders rushing to help.
“They were trying to do CPR to my son, trying to make him breathe. It was just too much,” recalled Mejia.
One witness, Enrriqueta Peña, who has a son of Jacob’s age, remembered how she tried to keep Jacob conscious.
“I called him, ’Wake up, wake up. We go play.’ And he opened his eyes [slowly.]”
Another witness, who noticed the driver fleeing the scene, called 911 and followed the vehicle about a mile and a half away.
“The good Samaritan followed the suspect all the way, constantly giving updates to dispatch where the suspect was going,” Sgt. Nick Jenson with the Garden Grove Police Department said.
Police later identified the driver as 29-year-old Ceferino Ramos of Santa Ana, who was apprehended about a mile and a half from the crash site.
Video footage showed a bottle of alcohol on top of the suspect’s Toyota Camry at the time of his arrest.
While the cause of the crash was still under investigation, police believe that alcohol or drugs may have played a factor.
Mejia expressed mixed emotions about the driver while focusing on her family’s recovery.
“I don’t wish nothing bad for that person, but I just don’t understand how cruel they could be,” she said. “This had to happen to my kids, and right now my baby is not even waking up.”