Deputies arrested a man who they say led them on a pursuit that ended with a crash in Hesperia while a 1-year-old child was riding as a passenger this week.
The pursuit kicked off shortly after midnight Monday, March 9, when a deputy tried to pull over a van for “several California Vehicle Code violations” at Bear Valley Road and Mariposa Road in Victorville, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said.
“The driver of the van failed to yield and led deputies on a pursuit through Victorville and Hesperia,” according to a statement from the agency.
The chase continued for more than five miles before the fleeing van crashed into another vehicle at Highway 395 and Main Street in Hesperia, authorities said.
Two men ran from the disabled van but were quickly apprehended. One of them, the driver, was identified as 32-year-old Bryan Espinoza of Upland, county booking records show.
Deputies found a woman and her 1-year-old child inside the just-crashed van, sheriff’s officials said. Both were treated for minor injuries.
The driver who was struck by the fleeing suspect complained of pain but did not with to be taken to a hospital.
Espinoza was booked on suspicion of evading police causing injury, child abuse with the possibility of causing great bodily injury or death and criminal conspiracy.
Bail was set at $100,000 pending an initial court appearance.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Driver flees deputies, crashes with 1-year-old child in van in Hesperia
Reporting by Brian Day, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
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