The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors renewed a $10,000 offer this week in exchange for help locating a hit-and-run driver who crashed into a North Long Beach apartment nearly three years ago, killing a man and his 3-year-old daughter.
Octavio Montano Islas, 26, was drunk when he drove a 2014 Dodge Ram pickup truck into an apartment building near the intersection of Artesia Boulevard and Rose Avenue around 10 p.m. on March 1, 2022, according to Long Beach police.
Montano Islas allegedly fled on foot after the crash that killed 42-year-old Jose Palacios-Gonzalez and 3-year-old Samantha Palacios.
In an interview with the Long Beach Post, Esnelia Palacios described watching in horror as the truck pinned her husband and her daughter underneath.

Jose was pronounced dead at the scene. Neighbors got Samantha out of the rubble, but she died from her injuries at a hospital a short time later.
In April 2023, Esnelia Palacios was featured in a video posted by LBPD pleading for the public’s help in locating the suspected hit-and-run driver.
The bikini sports bar where Montano Islas had been drinking prior to the crash, Bottoms Up Tavern, shuttered at the end of July 2022 after the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control accused the bar of 23 violations unrelated to the crash. They included multiple counts of allowing lewd conduct and drug activity.

This week, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Hahn’s motion to re-establish the county’s $10,000 reward for information on the alleged drunk driver.
Previously, Long Beach officials agreed to contribute an additional $15,000 to the reward.
“Samantha had an entire life ahead of her until Octavio Montano Islas viciously cut it short,” said county Supervisor Janice Hahn. “I can’t imagine the pain and anguish that Samantha and Jose’s family have felt since this loss, but we’re committed to bringing the man responsible for it to justice.”
Montano Islas was described as a 5-foot-8-inch tall Hispanic man who weighs 160 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and unspecified tattoos on his right forearm.
Officials urge anyone with information on Islas’ whereabouts to call LBPD Detective Scott Jenson at 562-570-7218.