4 Pedestrians Struck, 4-Year-Old Girl Killed, Driver Arrested: Police

SPRING VALLEY, NY — A senseless tragedy in Rockland County has taken the life of a four-year-old girl, and injured two other small children and an adult, according to Spring Valley police.

The Spring Valley Police Department says that an officer responded to the Old Nyack Turnpike on Saturday night, after police received a report around 9:20 p.m. that a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle.

When the officer arrived, Ramapo police and emergency medical personnel were already on scene.

An investigation found that several people had been struck by a vehicle as they were walking on the sidewalk, exiting a park at 142 Old Nyack Turnpike.

Police say the car had become disabled after the accident and was still at the location with the driver still wedged in the car.

The four victims who were struck were taken to Westchester Medical Center by ambulance with varying degrees of injury, according to police:

• A two-year-old boy had physical injuries.
• A five-year-old boy had serious physical injuries.
• A 31-year-old man and a four-year-old girl both received serious physical life-threatening injuries.

Police say that the four-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries and passed away a few hours later despite life-saving efforts.

The driver was also injured and taken to Good Samaritan Hospital.

Police say the investigation found that the driver, 41-year-old Axel Lopez-Santiago, of Spring Valley, may have been under the influence of alcohol. He was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicular homicide with a previous DWI conviction, aggravated vehicular homicide causing the death of one person and serious physical injury of at least one other, first-degree vehicular assault, reckless driving and driving while intoxicated.