Sunday night, friends and families released balloons and lit candles in honor of 8-year-old Xxavien Hernandez. Just two weeks ago, the little boy and his father, Tony Hernandez were eating lunch at a food truck on the corner of east California and Haley Street when they were hit by an alleged drunk driver, Andres Serna.
As people left the vigil, tragedy struck once again, this time just a short distance down the 300 block of Haley Street, near where the family had gathered earlier.
Bakersfield Police say a white SUV sideswiped and rear-ended two parked cars.
Nearby residents giving us a recount of what they saw.
“The people at the vigil, he had hit the first car trying to get away and when he wrecked the car down here, they were able to apprehend him,” said resident James Ward.
A statement from the department reads in part quote,
“The driver, Salvador Rodriguez (29), was arrested for misdemeanor DUI-related charges."
BPD tells us that DUI crashes remain a major problem citywide. So far this year, they’ve made more than 600 DUI arrests.
They’ve also recorded 11 DUI-related deaths in 2025.
And on Haley Street itself, between East California Avenue and Truxtun, there have been six crashes since August 1, though none of them were fatal.
Prior to Sunday nights crash, 23ABC spoke with the mother of XxAvien, who said she believes there needs to be harsher laws on drunk drivers.
“The person who hit my son had two prior convictions and had been arrested prior to that for drunk driving. he was let out on bail in May and had he not been out on bail, my son might still be alive right now,” said mother Stephanie Soerjono.
Although no one was hurt in Sunday’s accident, the family says it serves as a painful reminder as to how dangerous drunk driving can really be.
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