Riverside

Teen Struck and Killed When She Ran in Front of Sheriff's Patrol Car

A teenager struck and killed when she ran in front of a sheriff's patrol car in Perris was allegedly fleeing a store from which she had stolen merchandise, authorities said Friday.

The victim, identified by Perris Union High School officials as Leticia Ramirez, a freshman at Perris High School, was fatally injured shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of North Perris Boulevard, just north of Nuevo Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Officer Dan Olivas said that Ramirez allegedly snatched items from the shelf of a Rite Aid store and ran eastbound across Perris Boulevard to get away.

"A Riverside County sheriff's deputy was responding to an unrelated routine call for service and happened to be passing the location," Olivas said. "The pedestrian ran into the side of his vehicle and suffered major injuries."

Olivas said it appeared the girl was clipped by the driver's side fender of the northbound patrol unit and then rolled into the windshield.

The deputy was not hurt. Ramirez was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where she died a short time later.

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