Suspected DUI driver, toddler hurt in hit-and-run on Hwy 24 in Orinda

ORINDA, Calif. -- A suspected drunk driver and her 2-year-old daughter were badly injured by a hit-and-run driver after walking across state Highway 24 in Orinda on Monday night, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said Tuesday.

The collision happened around 9:50 p.m. on eastbound Highway 24 near St. Stephens Drive, where officers arrived to find a Honda minivan had crashed into the center median, CHP Officer John Fransen said.

Officers arriving on the scene heard a child crying and found a toddler and a 24-year-old woman down on the roadway's right-hand shoulder suffering from major injuries, Fransen said.

The mother and her daughter were taken to hospitals to be treated for their injuries and are expected to survive.

Fransen said the mother, whose name was not immediately released, is believed to have been driving under the influence when her minivan went off of the roadway and into the center divider.

She will likely be arrested on suspicion of DUI and child endangerment but remained in the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Fransen.

It appears that after crashing into the center median, the woman and her daughter then crossed over to the highway's shoulder on foot when a vehicle believed to have been a Mercedes-Benz struck them.

The driver did not stop at the scene and no further description of the suspect vehicle was immediately available.