The California Highway Patrol said it is likely to recommend filing charges against a pregnant mom involved in an accident near Redwood City Friday morning. Police say the four children in the truck weren't wearing seatbelts.
Officer Art Montiel said Mirna Rocio Lopez, 25, was not placed under arrest, but his agency is "anticipating" that she will be charged for allowing minors to ride unrestrained in her pickup truck, driving while unlicensed and misdemeanor child endangerment charges.
"There were just no restraints at all," Montiel told NBC Bay Area. "We see that as a huge deal."
Lopez lost control of her tan 1998 Chevrolet S-10 on First Avenue and Middlefield Road, near Menlo-Atherton High School, just after 8 a.m, according to the CHP report. Her pickup then struck a parked 2006 Dodge F-250, causing her Chevy to flip over.
All five in the truck were taken to Stanford Medical Center as a precaution, the report states, but only Lopez and the 17-year-old boy in the front seat suffered minor cuts to their arms. The other children, ages 1, 5 and 6, did not suffer any injuries.
None of the children were belted in, Montiel said, and there weren't any car seats for the younger children either. Montiel said he wasn't sure where Lopez was going or why the children weren't restrained.
He added that he did not believe drugs or alcohol were involved.
Local
This accident was first reported to have been in Menlo Park. But the address is in unincorporated San Mateo County, closest to Redwood City.
Witnesses are asked to contact CHP Officer Tim Gray at (650) 369-6261.
