Ceres crash leads police to home where 4-year-old, infant were left alone

When a Ceres man’s wife called him to say she was in a traffic accident he went to the scene so that he could claim he was driving, according to police. He also left their 4-year-old daughter and 9-month old son at home alone.

The collision occurred at the intersection of Mitchell and Fowler roads at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and involved a BMW and Suzuki, according to Sgt. Greg Yotsuya.

An officer who responded to the non-injury crash spoke to 39-year-old Jose Navarro who said he was the driver of the Suzuki. But witnesses told the officer that Navarro had arrived at the scene after the crash in a Honda and that the woman who had been driving the Suzuki then drove off in that Honda.

The officer learned that Navarro’s wife Dulce Oseguera-Garcia, 34, was driving the Suzuki at the time of the collision, Yotsuya said.

The officer went to the couple’s home about a mile away. When he arrived, the door was answered by the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, Yotsuya said, who had been left home alone with her 9-month-old brother.

Oseguera-Garcia walked up to the home about 10 minutes after the officer arrived. She had parked the Honda down the street, Yotsuya said.

Navarro Jr. and Dulce Oseguera-Garcia eventually admitted to their attempt at making a false police report related to the traffic collision.

Navarro Jr. was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and delaying and obstructing an investigation. Oseguera-Garcia was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident, child endangerment and driving without a license.

Child protective services took custody of the two children.

This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Ceres crash leads police to home where 4-year-old, infant were left alone."