A convicted felon accused of running over and seriously injuring a 6-year-old boy while fleeing the scene of an accident outside a Perris church was charged Wednesday with hit-and-run resulting in great bodily injury and other offenses.
Louie Ahmad Qutami of Menifee was arrested Friday following a two-week investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Along with the hit-and-run count, Qutami is charged with probation violations and driving on a revoked license stemming from a drunk driving conviction.
The defendant, who is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The alleged hit-and-run occurred at about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 at a crosswalk fronting St. James Catholic Church in the 300 block of West Third Street, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Jeremy Bracey. He said the victim, whose identity was not released, was walking with his family when they started across Third Street at C Street, roughly the same time that Qutami, going southbound in a 2023 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, allegedly clipped a parked vehicle.
“As the truck began fleeing the collision scene, it then struck the juvenile,” Bracey said, alleging that the defendant sped away southbound.
Paramedics reached the location minutes later and found the victim with major life-threatening injuries. He was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley for treatment and is now in recovery.
His family members weren’t hurt.
Deputy Freider Rodriguez said in a bail-setting declaration that over the ensuing days, he was able to confirm to whom the pickup belonged — Qutami — and that the probationer was allegedly at the wheel at the time of the hit-and-run.
“Louie has a history of drug use DUIs and hit-and-runs,” Rodriguez said. “He has not checked in with his probation officer since 2022, blatantly disregarding the terms of his probation.”
The deputy said he discovered Qutami had been in Mexico, undergoing drug rehabilitation, for two years, returning to the United States on Feb. 9, just five days prior to the hit-and-run.
When the lawman tracked down the defendant and his pickup on Hospitality Place in Murrieta last week, “there was a heavy odor of alcohol (permeating) the truck, days after the collision,” he said.
“There was also a heavy odor of alcohol coming from (Qutami’s) breath,” Rodriguez wrote.
He requested that Superior Court Judge Michael Rushton order the defendant held without bail because Qutami’s family has properties that might enable them to post a seven-figure bond, and “they will lie and cover for him, not holding him accountable for his actions,” the deputy said.
The judge granted the request.
According to court records, among Qutami’s prior convictions are reckless driving, hit-and-run resulting in property damage, burglary and auto theft.