Rialto family T-boned by suspects fleeing $30K Chino Hills smash-and-grab robbery

RIALTO, Calif. (KABC) -- A Rialto family is speaking out after surviving a violent crash caused by suspects fleeing a robbery.

Jovan Bullock and her family were returning home Saturday afternoon when their SUV was struck by a vehicle that had been tracked by police following a smash-and-grab theft in Chino Hills. The impact, captured on a neighbor's home security camera, flipped the family's Nissan onto its side.

"We literally had just left a Christian breakfast, which is so crazy. It was a beautiful experience," Bullock said. "We definitely did not see this coming."

Bullock briefly lost consciousness. When she came to, her daughter was screaming for her 3-year-old son, Taviare. He was tucked under a seat, still restrained in his car seat.

"I had to get him out of the seatbelt," said his mother, Akista Sykes. "He was passed out... I was frantic, crying, it was just a lot."

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Chino Hills station, the suspects had stolen approximately $30,000 worth of sunglasses from a Sunglass Hut in Chino Hills earlier.

According to investigators, seven individuals were involved in the robbery and fled in two vehicles. A helicopter tracked one of those cars to the Bullocks' neighborhood in Rialto, where the crash occurred as the Bullocks were parking near their home.

"My grandma was like, 'Makiah, break the window,'" said Makiah Bullock. "I tried. I was banging on it, but I couldn't break it."

Three suspects -- two adults and a minor -- fled the scene but were later taken into custody. Authorities said they are being charged with commercial burglary. Rialto Police said they have filed felony hit-and-run charges with the district attorney's office related to the crash.

"They talked about stolen merchandise, sunglasses, $30,000 -- when it was six lives that could have been lost that day," Bullock said.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Chino Hills Station is leading the robbery investigation. Rialto police are handling the crash.

As of Thursday, the two adult suspects had been released from custody, while the Bullocks continue to recover from injuries sustained in the crash.