Police officer responding to call hits child in crosswalk

A Santa Rosa police officer heading to an emergency call with patrol car lights flashing hit a young boy walking in a crosswalk, the CHP reported Monday.

The six-year-old suffered bruises and was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released.

The crash was the latest in a string of incidents involving cars and pedestrians in crosswalks in Santa Rosa and comes as Santa Rosa traffic officers seek ways to reduce the number of collisions.

This crash occurred at about 11:10 p.m. Saturday as the boy was crossing West Avenue at Sebastopol Road with family and friends.

Officer Nolan Cleall was responding to a report of a fight and was driving west on Sebastopol Road. He was turning left onto West when he hit the boy, the CHP said.

"I don't know why he didn't see 10 people in the crosswalk," Molly Vasquez, the boy's mother said Monday.

Oscar Vasquez is a first-grader at Wilson Elementary School in Petaluma. He had been out for a night of ice skating with six other children and three adults and were returning from a popular Roseland restaurant after a meal of tacos when the boy was hit, she said.

Oscar was wearing a bright orange Giants sweatshirt and was about four feet in front of the rest of the group, crossing with the proper light, she said.

Vasquez said she'd noticed the police car approaching on Sebastopol Road with it's lights flashing and expected the car to continue straight on Sebastopol Road.

"He wasn't in the turn lane. All of a sudden he turned," she said.

The patrol car had slowed for the turn, she said. Oscar was apparently hit by the bumper and knocked to the ground.

Vasquez said the officer told her he didn't see the boy. She said he called the family Sunday to apologize.

"He said he wanted to make sure my son was OK," she said. "I said my son's OK and he was welcome to come see him."

The collision Monday remained under investigation by the CHP, including how fast the officer was driving, whether he had his siren on and how far the boy was across the street when he was hit.