LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Thursday the California Highway Patrol offered additional details on the Wednesday accident that took the life of a young child.
Four-year-old Joseph McCloud of Lakeport died after he was struck by a car on Soda Bay Road east of Osprey Court, according to CHP Officer Kory Reynolds.
Reynolds said the child was walking east with family members along Soda Bay Road's north shoulder just after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when, for unknown reasons, he stepped into the westbound lane.
When he did so, the little boy was hit by the right front of a 2004 Saturn SUV driven by Lakeport resident James Bishop, 39, Reynolds said.
Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells had said on Wednesday that his paramedics responded to the Fastop convenience store at the intersection of Soda Bay Road and Highway 175, where the child had been transported. Paramedics found CHP working on the child to try to save him.
A Lakeport Fire ambulance transported the child to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where a REACH air ambulance was prepared to fly him out of county. However, Reynolds said the child was pronounced dead at 1:20 p.m.
Reynolds said the CHP is handling the investigation into the incident, in which alcohol was not a factor.
A memorial to the little boy has been built by friends and family at the accident site, near Big Valley Rancheria.
On Thursday, bright red and pink heart-shaped balloons, toy cars, candles, flowers and an array of stuffed animals – a kangaroo, toy dog, teddy bear, and Winnie the Pooh characters Tigger and Piglet – sat along the roadside near where the child was struck.
There also were homemade signs with handwritten messages to the little boy – who also was identified as Joseph Anderson – who would have turned 5 years old in September, according to a sign that recorded his birth date.
“We love you, Joe!” read one sign, while another sign said, “Forever in our thoughts.”
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