Ukiah man arrested after 1-year-old run over

A Ukiah man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving late Thursday after he inadvertently backed his car over a 1-year-old girl, CHP officials said.

The child suffered major injuries and was flown to UC Davis Medical Center, Officer Kylar Adams said. Adams said the injuries were potentially life-threatening and the girl’s condition was unknown Friday.

Witnesses told officers they saw a 1997 Ford Thunderbird driven by Luis Valdezbardo, 24, run over the girl at about 11:15 p.m. Thursday as he backed out of a stall at an apartment complex on South State Street, Adams said. The girl had been with family near a common grassy area of the apartment complex where people had gathered, he said.

The Thunderbird drove away and an officer pulled the car over about 10 minutes later after witnesses pointed it out, Adams said. Valdezbardo told officers he did not know he had run over the child, Adams said. He was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of drunken driving causing injury.