Suspect arrested in hit-and-run that injured mother with stroller, CHP Sacramento says
Authorities arrested a man suspected of driving a minivan that struck a mother as she pushed a stroller in south Sacramento County in a hit-and-run over two months ago, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Joel Alonzo, 40, was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, vehicle theft, possessing a stolen vehicle and violating probation, the CHP South Sacramento Area Office announced Monday. Alonzo was booked at the Sacramento County Jail on Thursday.
The hit-and-run occurred about 4:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at the intersection of Lucchesi Drive, as the woman was walking in the neighborhood several blocks east of Elk Grove Florin Road.
The 36-year-old mother was pushing the stroller on the south side of Lucchesi Drive and walking east across Harney Way. CHP officials said the Honda Odyssey was heading west on Lucchesi and made a left turn onto Harney, when the minivan struck the mother.
As a result of the collision, the stroller was turned onto its side and the infant was ejected onto the street, the CHP reported. The minivan driver left the area without checking on the mother and her child.
CHP investigators released video of the minivan hitting the mother and then being driven away.
CHP officials said the mother and her child were taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for treatment of their injuries. The mother and her 8-month-old were later released from the hospital.
Two days after the hit-and-run, authorities found and recovered the abandoned stolen Honda Odyssey minivan believed to have struck the mother. Help from a tip from the public led CHP investigators to the minivan in the 9800 block of Dino Drive in Elk Grove, a few miles south of where the minivan struck the woman in the Vineyard neighborhood of south Sacramento County.
After finding the minivan, investigators identified Alonzo as a “person of interest” and released a photo of him. They later obtained a warrant for his arrest.
On Thursday, a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy found Alonzo at a homeless encampment under a bridge at French Road and German Drive in south Sacramento. The deputy arrested Alonzo on the warrant issued for his arrest.
