Long Beach

Reward Offered in Crash That Killed Man and 3-Year-Old Daughter in Apartment

Jose Palacios Gonzalez and daughter Samantha were killed March 1 when a pickup crashed into their Long Beach apartment.

Long Beach Police Department

Detectives identified 24-year-old Octavio Montano Islas as the suspect in a hit-and-run crash that killed a man and his daughter in a Long Beach apartment.

What to Know

  • A $10,000 reward was approved by LA County.
  • March 1, the suspect crashed into a Long Beach apartment building, killing Jose Palacios Gonzalez and his 3-year-old daughter Samantha.
  • Octavio Montano, 24, was identified by police as a suspect.

A $10,000 reward was being offered in an early March crash that left a man and his 3-year-old dead when a pickup truck slammed into a Long Beach apartment.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the reward in the hope that it leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect identified by police as 24-year-old Octavio Montano.

Supervisor Janice Hahn made the request for the reward, which was approved unanimously.

Octavio Montano was allegedly driving a 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck northbound on Rose Avenue, near East Artesia Boulevard, about 10 p.m. on March 1 when the truck crashed into an apartment building, killing a 42-year-old Jose Palacios Gonzalez and his young daughter Samantha, the Long Beach Police Department said. The truck driver left the scene. 

Family and loved ones gather to remember the lives of a father and his 3- year-old daughter killed when a truck plowed into their apartment in Long Beach on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News.

Jose Palacios Gonzalez died at the scene. His daughter Samantha Palacios was taken to a hospital, where she later died.

Witnesses said the truck driver appeared to have been at a nearby bar before the crash. 

Anyone with information about the case was asked to call LBPD Detective Kevin Johansen at 562-570-7355. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.

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