A dad driving his young daughter to school in Daly City is facing felony charges for allegedly striking 10-year-old students with his car in a senseless fit of road rage.
Vernon Suriaga, 43, of San Mateo, is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing Wednesday on child assault charges and for failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
The morning of Sept. 23, Suriaga allegedly became enraged when several 10-year-old boys working safety patrol at John F. Kennedy Elementary School told him he could not enter the parking lot until 8:15 a.m., San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
The time was 8:05 p.m.
Suriaga asked the boys to move a cone so he could make a u-turn. But instead of turning, he drove forward into the parking lot. Two boys stepped in front of his car and again told him to stop, but Suriaga allegedly revved up the engine and struck them, Wagstaffe said. The boys were hit by the car in the abdominal area, but were not knocked down, he said.
Suriaga continued into the parking lot, parked, and then chased after the two young patrol guards, Wagstaffe said. He “grabbed a third 10-year-old patrol boy by the jacket and screamed at him,†the district attorney said.
He allegedly screamed curses at a mother who witnessed the rage.
Suriaga then walked his daughter, a second-grader, to school. He hopped back in his car and fled. Police later arrested him at his home. He remains in custody on $150,000 bail, Wagstaffe said.
maldax@sfexaminer.com
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