Two-year-old boy killed in hit-and-run in California; investigations ongoing

A 2-year-old boy was killed and his father injured in a hit-and-run crash in Salinas Friday night. The driver is still at large. Salinas police said they are still actively searching for the driver responsible for the hit-and-run. Father and son had just left a local barbershop before the incident. A memorial on East Alisal with a photo of the boy marks the scene of the crash. Elena Lopez says father and son had just left their barbershop shortly before the crash. Lopez and her husband, Michael Ponce, were among the last to see the boy alive. “We heard a loud noise but never thought it was them,” Lopez said. Surveillance video from a nearby business showed father and son walking down East Alisal shortly before the crash. “It was the first time he got a lineup and his combover line. He was thrilled. He told his dad twice in Spanish. ‘Que se miraba chulo.’ That he looks great,'” Ponce said.Local business owners have raised concerns about speeding and reckless driving in the area. “That’s the problem of cars and we just need help with that control,” said a local business owner.Salinas City Council member Orland Osornio acknowledged the concerns and said safety projects are in the works. “We can work on a lot of different projects in the district, but we really need to go to the drivers and explain to them that they can’t do that because literally people are losing their lives in our community,” Osornio said.Osornio mentioned that some of the upcoming projects include a study to determine traffic patterns on busy roads. The search for the driver responsible for the hit-and-run crash continues.For more coverage of the most important news from the Central Coast, click here | Download our app | Download Very Local