Suspected DUI driver strikes 2 fruit vendors, killing 1, in Ontario

A fruit vendor was killed and another hospitalized after they were hit by a car driven by a woman police say was under the influence as the pedestrians crossed a street Monday in Ontario.

The two vendors, who were not identified by police, were walking north with their push cart across Riverside Drive, east of Euclid Avenue, at 11:13 a.m. when they were hit by the car, officials from the Ontario Police Department said.

One vendor was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to a news release.

The driver, 43-year-old Jessica Dewet of Chino, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries after the crash, police said. She was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter.

A GoFundMe account identified the man who was killed as Héctor Eduardo Rabinal. The online fundraiser launched by Ontario Fruit in Maywood asks for money to assist Rabinal’s family with funeral expenses.

A man who said he was the brother of Rabinal told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that the vendor was originally from Guatemala and had been selling fruit in Ontario for about a year.

Carlos Rabinal said his brother leaves a wife and two daughters. He told KTLA that the two men who were struck were cousins, and he identified the one who survived as Ariel Tacubal Rabinal.