Somehow, a good outcome didn’t seem likely this time.
While we should always hope for the best when a bike riders is seriously injured, it’s never a good sign when authorities use the term “life-threatening” to describe a rider’s injuries.
According to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office, 17-year old Horacio Pineda died of his injuries at 8:20 Sunday night, after being found unresponsive in the street at 12:36 am.
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin identifies the location where he was found as Riverside Drive east of Walker Ave. There was no other vehicle present; however, police believe a motorist traveling east on Riverside hit his bike before fleeing the scene.
Authorities are looking for a dark colored car of undermined make and model with likely front-end damage.
Ontario police believe the collision occurred sometime between 11:30 pm Saturday and 12:30 am Sunday. Which means Pineda could have bled in the street for more than a hour before help arrived; whether or not his life could have been saved if the coward who hit him had stopped may never be known.
As far as I’m concerned, any driver who leaves a hit-and-run victim to die in the street should be charged with murder, since he or she made a conscious decision to let them die rather than stop or call for help.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Ontario Police Department at (909) 986-67811 or Detective Steve Hurst at (909) 395-2902.
This is the 47th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in San Bernardino County, which matches the county’s total for this time last year. And it is the 10th fatal hit-and-run in the seven-county SoCal region since the first of the year.
My prayers and sympathy go out to Horacio Pineda and all his loved ones.
Thanks to JL for the news.
Update: Ontario police are looking for a suspect, but have little to go on. Anyone with information is urged to call the Ontario Police Department at 909-986-6711, or Officer Marshall Martinez at 909-395-2001 ext. 4679.
Update 2: KABC-7 offers a nice look at who Pineda was, and just how much the coward who killed him has stolen from his friends and family, and all of us.
