MANTECA — A 65-year-old woman and her granddaughter remained in critical condition Thursday, April 10 after their car slammed into a Rite Aid store on Tuesday.

Four-year-old Sophia Fiallos was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center after the crash, where she was scheduled to undergo surgery to stabilize her spine, her father, Ricardo Fiallos, said Thursday.

Fiallos had been at the hospital since Tuesday, where he was praying for Sophia’s full recovery.

“It’s possible. That’s what we’re hoping,” he said. “Obviously she’s traumatized so she can’t move one side of her body … I’m believing in God that we’ll have a miracle.”

The driver of the car was Sophia’s grandmother, Barbara Bueno, who remained in critical condition at San Joaquin General Hospital Thursday.

Sophia’s brother, 2-year-old Sebastian Fiallos, was also in the car and suffered a broken leg. He was released from the hospital Wednesday in good condition, his father said.

As of press time, investigators had yet to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of Manteca Marketplace, on the corner of West Yosemite Avenue and South Union Road.
Witnesses said the car drove straight down the parking lot aisle and into the wall, jolting customers at the nearby Subway sandwich shop, who ran over to help.

“We just heard a loud bang,” said Connie Casimiro, who was having lunch at the time. “We ran outside and I could tell from the expression of the girls that something bad had happened.”

Casimiro, a medical assistant, tended to Sophia until rescue workers arrived.

“I just took off her seatbelt. I moved her hair out of her face and she had blood on her teeth,” Casimiro said. “She had a heartbeat (but) she was unresponsive.”

Police and family members on Thursday remained unclear on the cause of the crash.

A lack of skid marks leading up to the crash suggested a mechanical failure in the car or a medical problem with the driver, Police Captain Dave Bricker said.

Ricardo Fiallos said he did not know what caused the crash but he thought it was improbable that Bueno accidentally drove into the wall.

“I don’t know if the brakes went out or the accelerator got stuck,” Fiallos said, adding that Bueno had plenty of experience as a driver. “It’s very odd that something like that would happen.”

The California Highway Patrol will check the 2000 Toyota Corolla for faulty parts and make sure the brakes were working at the time of the crash — a process that will likely take one week.