Police arrest man in Halloween hit-and-run deaths

Police said Monday they arrested a 31-year-old California man on suspicion of felony hit-and-run in the death of three teenage girls struck while trick or treating near Los Angeles on Halloween.

Jaquinn Bell was arrested Sunday at an Orange County motel in connection with the deaths Friday night in Santa Ana, Calif., Police Chief Carlos Rojas said.

The three girls, all 13, were struck as they crossed a Santa Ana street in a marked crosswalk. Rojas said the vehicle did not stop after striking the pedestrians.

"He did not attempt to stop or render aid to the children he had hit,'' Rojas said.

Killed were twin sisters Lexi and Lexandra Perez and a friend, Andrea Gonzalez, authorities said. All were in the 8th grade in public schools.

Rojas said the county district attorney's office was reviewing the case.

Authorities said Bell was arrested at a motel in nearby Stanton where he was staying with his two children and other family members.

Police initially said they were looking for a driver and another person who fled the scene. They said the suspected vehicle, a damaged black Honda SUV, was found abandoned in a nearby parking lot.

This photo provided by the Santa Ana, Calif., Police Department shows Jaquinn Ramone Bell, 31, who was arrested in connection with the hit-and-run deaths of three teenage girls trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Rojas said Bell had his two teenage children in the vehicle with him at the time. He credited information from witnesses with helping police track Bell.

Two of the girls were declared dead immediately, and the other died as paramedics prepared to take her to a hospital, Orange County fire Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

The Orange County Register reported that a man with the same name and date of birth as Bell pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to hit-and-run with property damage, driving under the influence and two counts of child endangerment. He was sentenced to three years probation, seven days in jail and a first-offender alcohol program.
The Register reported that the Honda was not registered to Bell.

Family, friends and other community members held a vigil Sunday night at the accident site.

It was a deadly Halloween in the Orange County suburbs of Los Angeles. Police said a 65-year-old man died after he and his 4-year-old son were struck in an Irvine crosswalk while trick-or-treating. The child was in critical condition. No arrests were made in that case.