A man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment following an incident in Palmdale Sunday that ended with a vehicle crashing into a wall and five children hospitalized and taken into protective custody.
The incident began Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Ninth Street East and Avenue Q, where an adult was seen dragging two children toward a vehicle that subsequently crashed into a wall, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Oscar Martinez.
All five children in the vehicle were taken to a hospital and later released, and were placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Martinez said.
The man and woman, who were not immediately identified, were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, Martinez said. Information was not provided as to the reasons why, nor were there further details about the crash.
A videographer spoke to authorities at the scene, including Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel, and reported that the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station received a call of child abuse about 1:30 p.m., when a “disheveled” woman was seen forcing several children into a Nissan sedan without license plates.
Two children were unclothed at the time of the crash and were covered with blankets, according to the videographer, who described the five children as three girls and two boys between the ages of 1 and 7.
The names and ages of the arrested adults were not immediately available.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remained under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.