Two Children Run Over On California Highway After Mother Sends Them To Retrieve Luggage

San Diego County, CA – Two children were struck and killed by a car on a highway in San Diego County on Sunday after their intoxicated mother sent them to collect luggage that had fallen off their car.

The incident occurred at about 6 p.m. on June 18 after a piece of luggage fell off the top of a green GMC Yukon going east on State Route 78, ABC News reported.

A press release from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said the driver of the Yukon pulled over on the side of the roadway after the mishap.

Then she allegedly sent her 10-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter out onto the highway to retrieve the lost luggage, ABC News reported.

The children were struck by a white Nissan Sentra traveling at full speed in the No. 3 lane of the highway.

Despite best efforts by police and EMS who responded to the scene, CHP officials said both children were pronounced dead on the road, ABC News reported.

The driver of the Yukon has been identified by CHP as 33-year-old Sandra Ortiz.

Officials said she was arrested at the scene and charged with driving under the influence, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and child endangerment in connection with the incident, ABC News reported.

She was booked into the Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee and held on a $500,000 bail.

Ortiz was scheduled to appear for her arraignment on June 22 at 1:30 p.m., ABC News reported.

The 41-year-old driver of the Sentra that struck the children was not injured.

Police said the driver of that car remained at the scene of the crash to be interviewed by CHP, ABC News reported.

The driver of the Sentra has not been charged.

The investigation into the children’s deaths is ongoing and anyone with information has been asked to contact the Oceanside Area California State Highway Patrol, ABC News reported.