A felon who ran over and seriously injured a 6-year-old boy while fleeing the scene of an accident outside a Perris church was sentenced Monday to three years in prison.
Louie Ahmad Qutami, 30, of Menifee, pleaded guilty to reckless driving and admitted a great bodily injury enhancement under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in October. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors agreed to drop a hit-and-run charge against Qutami.
Qutami struck the child at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at a crosswalk fronting St. James Catholic Church in the 300 block of West Third Street, according to sheriff's Sgt. Jeremy Bracey. He said the victim, whose name was not released, was walking with his family when they started across Third Street at C Street, roughly the same time that Qutami, going southbound in a 2023 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, clipped a parked vehicle.
"As the truck began fleeing the collision scene, it struck the juvenile," Bracey said, adding that the defendant sped away.
Paramedics reached the location minutes later and found the victim with major, life-threatening injuries. He was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley for treatment and has since recovered.
His family members weren't hurt.
Deputy Freider Rodriguez wrote in a bail-setting declaration that over the ensuing days, he was able to confirm to whom the pickup belonged -- Qutami -- and that the probationer was at the wheel at the time of the hit-and-run.
"Louie has a history of drug use DUIs and hit-and-runs," Rodriguez wrote. "He had not checked in with his probation officer since 2022, blatantly disregarding the terms of his probation."
The deputy said he discovered Qutami had been in Mexico, undergoing drug rehabilitation, for two years, returning to the United States on Feb. 9, just five days prior to the hit-and-run.
When the lawman tracked down the defendant and his pickup on Hospitality Place in Murrieta, "there was a heavy odor of alcohol (permeating) the truck, days after the collision," he said.
"There was also a heavy odor of alcohol coming from (Qutami's) breath," Rodriguez wrote.
He requested that Superior Court Judge Michael Rushton order the defendant held without bail because Qutami's family has properties that might enable them to post a seven-figure bond, and "they will lie and cover for him, not holding him accountable for his actions," the deputy said.
The judge granted the request. Qutami was held at the Byrd Detention Center.
Court records show Qutami's prior convictions include reckless driving, hit-and-run resulting in property damage, burglary and auto theft.