Man killed after being hit by truck in Carmichael rampage identified by Sacramento coroner
Sacramento County officials on Wednesday released the name of a man who was killed last week when a pickup struck him in Carmichael, leading to a rampage that injured three others and ended when a citizen shot the suspect.
Rodney Hallett, 69, was hit by the black pickup shortly after 9 a.m. on June 21 at the intersection of Manzanita Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office. Hallett’s city of residence was not available.
Jorge Armando Zepeda of Sacramento has been arrested in connection with the deadly Carmichael rampage, which included two pedestrians who were hit by the pickup and an attack a a few blocks away that involved a gun and what appeared to be a crowbar, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Two other people suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment. Another victim declined to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
Zepeda, 39, remained in custody Wednesday at Sacramento County Main Jail, where he is being held without bail. He was scheduled to make his first appearance in Sacramento Superior Court in the afternoon.
Zepeda was arrested on suspicion of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon or firearm, assault with a deadly weapon or instrument and attempted homicide, according to jail records.
The chaotic incident began when the black pickup, which was reportedly driving erratically, struck Hallett on Manzanita near a Safeway shopping center. A bystander went to help Hallett. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rodney Grassmann said the pickup “circled back” and struck the bystander, too. The bystander was injured.
The pickup left and turned west onto Cypress Avenue before it “rear-ended another vehicle,” between Garfield Avenue and Hackberry Lane, according to Grassmann. The pickup reportedly pushed the other vehicle about 100 yards.
The suspect, later identified by authorities as Zepeda, got out of the pickup holding what appeared to be a crowbar and started beating that vehicle and the driver, Grassmann said during a news conference last week.
The victim escaped and ran from the suspect before a security guard in the area gave the victim refuge in his vehicle.
Grassmann said Zepeda then brandished a gun and approached a trailer parked in a nearby parking lot of the Carmichael Elks Lodge. A man got out of the trailer and was involved in a struggle with Zepeda over the gun, which fired. Grassmann said the fourth victim was injured, but it was unclear to him whether that person was shot or hit with the crowbar.
Another person believed to be related to the fourth victim then got out of the trailer with a gun, shot Zepeda in the upper body and ended the incident, according to Grassmann.
