A man who allegedly drove under the influence of alcohol and fled after the SUV he was driving fatally struck a toddler in City Heights was behind bars Monday on suspicion of a slate of charges, including murder.
Margarito Vargas Angeles, 45, was arrested on Saturday evening, almost three hours after the traffic fatality in a residential neighborhood between Central Avenue and state Route 15, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Angeles allegedly sped off after the 1999 Toyota 4Runner he was driving struck the one-year-old girl, who had wandered out into the roadway in the 3900 block of Redwood Street, the SDPD reported.
Paramedics took the child to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her name has been withheld pending family notification.
A witness to the traffic fatality provided officers with the suspect’s license-plate number, and they tracked down Angeles in the 7100 block of Peter Pan Avenue in Bay Terraces and took him into custody shortly after 9:30 P.M., Lt. Adam Sharki said.
Angeles was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of murder, drunken driving, hit-and-run, and driving with a suspended license. He was being held without bail pending arraignment, which is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.