by Jaclyn Roco
Editor in Chief
and Gloria Diaz
Managing Editor
A head-on collision Monday afternoon between an SUV and a pickup sent one child to the hospital after the crash sent the SUV into the Mobil gas station on the corner of D Street and Arrow Highway.
Three small children and their mother were traveling in the Ford Expedition SUV with their mother.
One of the children was taken by ambulance for precautionary measures, said Tom Pellerin, senior officer for the La Verne Police Department traffic division.
An adult male was driving the pickup, a Toyota, which had Sanders Lock and Key written on the door, which was moving westbound on Arrow Highway, while the Expedition was attempting to head eastbound on Arrow Highway, said Pellerin, who did not give the names of any involved in the accident.
Both vehicles sustained major damages, including smashed front bumpers and broken windshields.
The California Highway Patrol, paramedics and several La Verne Police Department and Fire Department officials arrived on the scene shortly after the accident, which occurred at approximately 3:12 p.m.
Emile Abraham was working at the Mobil gas station when he heard the accident. He called the La Verne police, though California Highway Patrol officers were already there by the time he made the call.
“I just heard a loud boom, and then I called it in,” Abraham said.
The gas station sustained minor damages to the outer wall facing Arrow Highway. Surrounding shrubbery was also damaged when the Expedition veered into a bush on the premises.
The impact slightly pushed away the store’s inside counter, Pellerin said.
Brian Brooks, a Pomona resident, who witnessed the entire accident from the southeast corner of Arrow Highway and D Street, described it as “sudden” and “without warning.”
Brooks said it looked like the Expedition’s throttle was stuck, and smoke was coming out of the tires, which were spinning in place.
“I came over to see if anyone was hurt,” Brooks said.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
“So now the question is, ‘Who ran the red light?'” Pellerin said.
Journalism operations manager at the University of La Verne. Production manager and business manager of the Campus Times.
