A motorist accused of hitting a 17-year-old boy on an ATV in Mead Valley, then fleeing the scene, was charged Tuesday with vehicular manslaughter.
Froylan Franco Arqueta, 55, of Perris, was arrested Friday, the day after the death of Axel Perez of Perris.
Along with the manslaughter count, Arqueta is charged with hit-and-run resulting in property damage and being an unlicensed operator of a motor vehicle, with a sentence-enhancing allegation of fleeing a deadly collision.
He’s being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and is slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Juan Quintero, Arqueta allegedly hit objects outside a residence in the area of Myron and Mead streets, then sped off shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday.
Moments later, while racing away from the initial hit-and-run, the defendant smashed into Perez’s quad, which resembles a dune buggy, in the 20700 block of Myron, and kept driving, Quintero alleged. The teen was killed on impact.
Arqueta could not be located by CHP officers or Riverside County sheriff’s deputies who converged on the area, according to Quintero. But sufficient evidence was left behind to identify the defendant’s vehicle, and he was summoned to the Riverside CHP office, where he was interviewed and taken into custody the following day, Quintero said.
Court records show that Arqueta has prior misdemeanor convictions for driving under the influence and driving without a license.