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A father and his two children were injured after being struck by an alleged drunk driver at a Walmart parking lot in Panorama City on Tuesday.
Henry Principe, 37, took his children to Walmart around 11:15 a.m. at the 14500 block of Roscoe Boulevard so he could buy his 9-year-old daughter Daniela a present since it was her birthday that day, according to KTLA. Felipe Perez, a 49-year-old driver struck the family in the parking lot, leaving the father and his 7-year-old son Matthew in critical condition and Daniela in fair condition. The son suffered a fractured jaw and torn liver.
Perez, who has had a prior DUI conviction in 2012, was seen backing into parked cars before he hit the family. The children's grandfather Daniel Baldonado told KTLA how Principe tried to save his children:
"There was a guy who started squealing, going backwards … My granddaughter saw him coming, and my son pushed Daniela out of the way," Baldonado said. “My son tried to save Matthew also, but the car hit him and he was dragged under the car."
Perez was booked at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday and held on $100,000 bail.
