Six-Year-Old Girl Killed in SFV Chase

Lake View Terrace - Three men who were in a vehicle involved in a police chase that ended when the vehicle fatally struck a 6-year-old girl in Lakeview Terrace were under arrest on Friday.

Kayla Woods was playing with friends in the 11900 block of Fenton Avenue when she was struck by the out-of-control red sedan about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, police and coroner's officials said.

Officers who saw a drug deal near Foothill and Van Nuys boulevards started chasing the suspects, a police spokeswoman said.

The driver, Aaron Esqueda Rojas, 32, of Panorama City, ran from the crash scene but was found two hours later hiding in a trash can.

Police used a Taser and a dog to subdue Rojas, who was bitten by the dog, said Lt. Robert Davis of the LAPD Foothill Station.

He was booked on suspicion of felony evading resulting in death and was being held on $150,000 bail, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Cleon Joseph.

Two passengers who had been in the car with Rojas were also arrested.

Joaquin Hiriarte was booked on suspicion of being an ex-felon with a gun, and Manuel Araujo was booked on suspicion of possessing drugs for sale, Joseph said. Each was held on $30,000 bail.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck went to the scene Thursday night.

"It was a very brief pursuit, during which time the suspects involved threw two handguns out the window and almost immediately after that lost control of their vehicle and ran up into a residential neighborhood yard where multiple children were playing," Beck said.

Some neighbors questioned whether police should have broken off the chase before it ended in tragedy.

The incident is under investigation, but Beck said the decision to engage in a high-speed pursuit is a tough call, and that had he known how the chase would end, he would have told all his officers not to come to work that day.