ESCONDIDO, Calif. (CNS) - A 42-year-old hit-and-run suspect was arrested Wednesday in connection with a crash that killed a pedestrian last year in Escondido after a seven-month search, authorities said.
The crash occurred in the morning on Sept. 17 when the suspect, identified as Lair Marin Salas, an Escondido resident, fatally hit 58-year-old Miguel Leonides Garcia with a truck as he was walking to work at the intersection of Mission Avenue and Broadway, according to the Escondido Police Department.
"Investigators spent hundreds of hours investigating this crime," Interim Chief of Police Ryan Banks said in a statement. "Through their expertise, attention to detail and analysis of the evidence, justice will be served for the victim's family."
"I'm just grateful. It's been frustrating waiting for answers ... I love and bleed Escondido. The fact that my city gave this back to us. It's everything," said a tearful Raul Garcia, Garcia's nephew.
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Salas was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run.
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