LOCAL : Boy, 4, Hurt in Fall From Truck

A 4-year-old boy ejected from the window of his father’s moving pickup truck on the Simi Valley Freeway is in stable condition at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles and his father has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.

Christopher Wheeler suffered a broken collarbone and is “aware and alert,” according to hospital officials.

Witnesses said the boy fell out of the window of the eastbound truck at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The truck stopped, the mother got out and the vehicle sped off, crashing into a fence at the bottom of the Glenoaks Boulevard off-ramp in Pacoima, police Detective Mike Houchen said.

Police say they have not determined whether the child was thrown deliberately from the vehicle. The father, Brian Wheeler, 27, of Los Angeles, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and driving under the influence of alcohol. He is being held in Van Nuys Jail without bail, Houchen said.

Earlier reports from the California Highway Patrol said that the parents of the boy were arguing at the time of the incident. Detectives were to interview Susan Wheeler, 29, this afternoon.

A second child, who apparently was also in the vehicle, was taken into protective custody and was placed with Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services.