[symple_googlemap title=”12500 block of Vista Panorama” location=”12500 block of Vista Panorama” height=”300″ zoom=”15″]
A car theft suspect, who’s considered a “person of interest” in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Modjeska Canyon, was behind bars Thursday.
Damon Ellery Block, 41, was arrested Wednesday on warrants unrelated to the Aug. 1 collision that killed a motorcyclist on Santiago Canyon Road, according to Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Mark Stichter.
Block is charged in the arrest warrants with a felony count of unlawful taking of a vehicle, as well as five misdemeanors: one count of falsely representing himself to an officer and two counts each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia.
On Aug. 9, sheriff’s detectives investigating the hit-and-run asked for the public’s help tracking down Block, which prompted anonymous tips on his whereabouts. He was arrested in the 12500 block of Vista Panorama in an unincorporated area near Santa Ana.
The crash killed Drew Ketter, 55, of Midway City, whose wife suffered serious injuries. Her son said his mother is expected to be discharged from a hospital this weekend.
Investigators determined that the other vehicle involved in the collision was stolen from a tow yard in Santa Ana. Evidence of that theft led investigators to seek Block as a “person of interest” in the collision, officials said.
–City News Service