Hit-and-run driver surrenders to police

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A 31-year-old Santa Barbara man turned himself into police on Tuesday, two days after he struck a two-year-old girl with his Chevrolet Tahoe, drove the girl and her mother to the hospital, and fled.
Shortly after the accident, authorities identified the driver as Freddy Pacheco, and on Monday night, contacted the man’s relatives, but couldn’t reach him.

Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte, a Santa Barbara Police spokesman, said Pacheco called police on Sunday and agreed to turn himself in.
He said the District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, though he suspected Pacheco could face a charge of felony hit-and-run and driving on a suspended license.
Duarte said the two-year-old girl was visiting family at a home in the 700 block of San Pascual St. when the accident occurred. He said the girl was struck by the SUV just after 6:30 p.m. on Sunday when she ran out the front door and into the street.
“Witnesses were trying to render first aid when the driver jumped out of the car [and] picked up the child,” Duarte said. “He then began to walk around with the bleeding child and found the mother.”
He said the child was in stable condition and suffered broken ribs and lacerations to her head.