Drunken Lompoc Man Arrested After Truck Backs Over 10-Year-Old

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — When a ten-year-old is behind the wheel of a moving car, any reasonable person would expect difficulties to ensue.  Multiple difficulties did indeed arise in the early evening of August 1st when a motor-vehicle collision was reported int he City Of Lompoc, in the heart of Santa Barbara County’s central coast.

Ronald Sanford Day

A 911 emergency call alerted authorities to an accident in the 1800 block of Berkeley Drive, but responding officers ran afoul of a more surreal emergency than they’d expected when they discovered a 10-year-old boy lying on the road and suffering from undetermined crushing injuries.  According to Lompoc PD spokesman Sgt. Chuck Strange,  the child “had been injured after falling from a moving vehicle.”

The boy was immediately airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment of injuries including internal bruising, and has been held for continuous medical observation.

Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident led detectives to the owner of the vehicle involved, 60-year-old Lompoc resident Ronald Sanford Day.  Officers learned that a drunken Day had appointed the boy his designated driver, as he himself was already too far gone.  According to witness statements reported to the media, “the car began to roll backward” while the boy was in the driver’s seat and Day was riding shotgun.  The boy then apparently tumbled out and was dragged along while Day attempted to regain control of the vehicle, until he “partially fell” himself.

He ultimately managed to get the vehicle under control… after it had already rolled over the boy.

Day, whose blood-alcohol level was found to be nearly twice the legal limit, was arrested and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail, where he’s currently held on $100,000 bail. He stands to face charges of DUI causing injury, hit and run with injury, and felony child endangerment.

Read more:

Find My Accident: Boy run over, hurt by family member Ronald Day in Lompoc

Nixle: Ten year old boy injured

Santa Maria Times: 10-year-old injured in DUI incident

Noozhawk: Boy, 10, Hospitalized and Family Member Charged with DUI