*UPDATE*
Grieving Valley Family Questioning Police Pursuit
FRESNO, Calif. -- While an Orange Cove couple remained hospitalized Monday, family members began making plans to bury the couple’s five children and questioned the cost of a deadly weekend police chase.
Carlos Eric Salazar, 8, died of his injuries Sunday at Community Regional Hospital in Fresno. His four siblings were killed immediately on Saturday when a car being chased by police slammed into his family’s truck. Three people in the fleeing car also died.
The devastating toll left family members stunned and angered.
"Police killed five innocent children," said Mirtala Elizondo, a family relative told the Fresno Bee. "For what? A stolen car. A car is nothing."
Dinuba police said they began chasing a Dodge Neon – that had been carjacked -- shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday when it refused to pull over for a traffic infraction.
The high-speed pursuit ended about four miles outside the city limits when the Neon, ran a stop sign and collided with a pickup carrying a family of seven.
California Highway Patrol Officer Felipe Martinez said the five Salazar children were riding in the back of the truck and were thrown from the vehicle on impact. None of the children were wearing a seat belt or any other kind of restraint.
The children's parents -- Carlos Salazar, Jr., 29, and Jennifer Salazar, 26 -- were in the cab and suffered a variety of injuries, the CHP said.
The three men who fled from Dinuba police died at the scene and haven't been identified, Martinez said. None of them were carrying identification, he added.
Authorities identified the five children who died were: Jochelyn Grace Salazar, 7; Monique Janae Salazar, 4; Michael Alexander Salazar, 3; Sienna Rose Salazar, 1, and Carlos Eric Salazar, 8.
