CHP: Baby drowns as off-road vehicle driven by drunken father plunges into S. Calif. river

Baby dies as vehicle plunges into S. Calif. river

APPLE VALLEY, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol says a 1-year-old boy has drowned after his drunken father drove an off-road vehicle into a river in the San Bernardino County desert.

CHP spokesman Joaquin (WAH’-keen) Zubieta says the Suzuki Samurai plunged Monday night into 9 feet of water in the Mojave River in Apple Valley. The driver had been off-road driving and was inching the SUV into the water when it plunged and rolled over.

Zubieta says 23-year-old Hunter Kilmer and a 19-year-old passenger escaped but couldn’t get Kilmer’s 16-month-old son, Ford, out of a baby seat.

Kilmer was booked for investigation of manslaughter and driving under the influence and remained jailed Tuesday.

Apple Valley is about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles.