Sonoma boy, 3, dies after being hit by pickup

A 3-year-old Sonoma boy, struck by a truck Sunday evening when he fell from his stroller in a Sonoma Valley crosswalk, died, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The boy’s mother had tried to pull the stroller out of the path of the pickup. But the boy, who was seated but not restrained, toppled into the street and was run over, the CHP said.

She’d been on a walk with the boy and a younger sibling in the two-seater stroller at about 6 p.m. At the intersection of West Verano and Railroad avenues, she waited at the crosswalk for a clear time to cross, the CHP said.

She began to cross after seeing the pickup driver stop near the crosswalk. She was about a dozen feet into the crosswalk with the stroller when the driver started forward. Realizing the truck was going to hit the stroller, she yanked it back, out of the way.

The CHP said the driver, a 66-year-old Glen Ellen man, didn’t see the boy. The man, who was driving with his wife, stopped at the scene and cooperated with officers. He was given sobriety tests and showed no signs of alcohol, the CHP said.

Officers Monday will return to the crash site to evaluate the angle of the sun, to see if it could have obscured the driver’s vision.

On Monday, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office identified the boy as Owen Todeschini. Following the accident he was flown to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa where medical officials pronounced him dead. No other family members were injured.