Man who allegedly abandoned injured son after crash pleads not guilty

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – A man who allegedly crashed his pickup truck on
Interstate 5 in the Midway area before running off, leaving behind his badly
injured 4-year-old son, pleaded not guilty Thursday to two felony charges in a
downtown courtroom.

Angelo Fabiani Arroyo, 40, is accused of fleeing the scene of the Sunday
crash at about 8 p.m. near Rosecrans Street.

Deputy District Attorney Teresa Santana said the defendant's pickup,
which was hauling a small water-craft trailer, rolled down an ice plant-covered
embankment and came to rest with its passenger side atop a concrete retaining
wall.

“At that point, the suspect got out of the truck, went around the side,
got in the back and unhooked the child's car seat,” Santana said. “The
child fell out the window, landing about seven feet below on the concrete.”

Valentino Fabiani Arroyo was being treated for severe head injuries at
Rady Children's Hospital, where the “prognosis is not good,” the prosecutor
said.

According to Santana, numerous witnesses saw the crash and tried to help
the boy as the driver fled. He was arrested Tuesday in Imperial Beach.

The father was charged with hit-and-run causing serious injury and child
endangerment, and faces seven years in prison if convicted, she said. He's on
probation for a drunken driving conviction, she said.

Two friends of the defendant said he was a great father who must have
panicked when Valentino was hurt.

Fabiani Arroyo went “crazy, crazy” and ran all the way to Imperial
Beach, arriving with blisters on his feet, Martha Tolles told reporters after
the hearing.

“This was a horrific, horrible accident,” Tolles said.

She said it would take “a miracle from God” for the boy to survive.

Superior Court Judge David Szumowski set bail at $150,000 and scheduled
a readiness conference for June 17.