An alleged hit-and-run driver was arrested Friday for a collision at a Riverside intersection that killed a 19-year-old woman.
Erasto Gomez, 59, was booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run resulting in death. Bail information was not immediately available.
Riverside police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback told City News Service that Gomez was found about 1:30 p.m. after a witness supplied investigators with a license plate number that led them to the Dodge Ram 3500 series van involved in the crash.
Railsback said the vehicle was parked in front of an apartment complex in the La Sierra quarter of the city, where Gomez resides. He was confirmed to be the owner.
“He was questioned by detectives and ultimately arrested for the hit- and-run,” Railsback told CNS.
It took several hours to transport the suspect to the detention center because he first had to be medically cleared by emergency room staff at Riverside Community Hospital.
“He was not hurt in the crash. He said he had an ‘old injury’ from an accident 10 years ago, so we had to have him examined before booking,” Railsback said. “It’s part of the process.”
The fatal collision happened about 5:50 a.m. at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and Tyler Street.
Sgt. Ben Shafer said the victim, identified by friends and family as Linda Rodriguez, was headed west on Magnolia in her Nissan Sentra, on a green light, when the southbound 2001 Dodge ran a red light on Tyler, broadsiding her sedan.
The impact to the passenger side of the Nissan propelled it into an electrical pole and water control valve in the center median, according to Shafer. The valve was sheared off, creating a geyser of water over the car.
Rodriguez was extricated from her vehicle by Riverside Fire Department crews and pronounced dead at the scene. Her friends said she had been heading to work at the time.
Shafer said the suspect sped away after the collision but was briefly tailed by a good Samaritan, who jotted down the tag number before he drove out of sight in the area of Indiana Avenue and Van Buren Boulevard.
— City News Service