Sacramento parolee changed clothes after hit-and-run that killed teen pedestrian, CHP says
Officers arrested a man on parole suspected of changing clothes and hopping into a getaway car after running away from a two-vehicle crash that killed a 17-year-old pedestrian and injured three other people Saturday afternoon near a south Sacramento shopping center.
The fatal vehicle collision occurred about 3:20 p.m. in the southbound lanes of Stockton Boulevard at the intersection with McMahon Drive in Fruitridge Manor, the California Highway Patrol reported.
An 83-year-old West Sacramento woman was driving a 2011 gold Toyota Camry north on Stockton and was stopped in a left-turn lane preparing to head west into the nearby shopping, the CHP South Sacramento office announced Monday in a news release.
Marquis Leon Johnson, 29, of Sacramento was driving a 2010 white Toyota Rav 4 south on Stockton and approaching the McMahon intersection at a high rate of speed, the CHP said.
The Camry driver and a witness told officers that the left-turn light turned green before she turned left across the southbound lanes toward the shopping center.
Vehicle hits three pedestrians
The CHP said Johnson failed to stop or slow down for the red light, and the front of the Rav 4 hit the front of the Camry. The impact forced the Rav 4 to veer to the right onto the sidewalk, where the compact SUV struck three pedestrians.
The Rav 4 struck a 17-year-old Pomona boy on the sidewalk; he suffered fatal injuries, the CHP said. A 33-year-old woman and 56-year-old woman, both from Sacramento, were also hit by the vehicle. The 33-year-old woman suffered minor injuries, and the 56-year-old suffered moderate injuries. Both women were hospitalized.
The West Sacramento woman driving the Camry also suffered minor injuries in the crash and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, the CHP said.
After hitting the pedestrians, the Rav 4 veered back to the left and came to rest in the southbound lanes about 100 yards away from where the crash with the Camry occurred.
The CHP said video from a passing driver, who shared the video on social media, showed Johnson climbing out the Rav 4’s rear passenger seats and running south toward the Lotus Casino located on the west side of Stockton.
Sacramento sheriff’s deputies and Sacramento police officers were at the scene quickly and attended to those injured. The CHP said Johnson ran through the casino parking lot and jumped a fence into a schoolyard.
GPS ankle bracelet
A CHP Valley Division K-9 Unit, deputies and Sacramento County Probation Department officers launched an extensive search for Johnson after reviewing security camera video from the casino. The CHP said they later found Johnson after pinging a GPS ankle bracelet he was seen wearing.
Authorities pulled over a vehicle driven by an acquaintance who had picked up Johnson, the CHP said. Johnson was taken into custody.
The CHP said Johnson had changed clothes, but the clothes he was wearing during the crash were in the back seat of the vehicle that picked him up. During the search for Johnson, another of Johnson’s acquaintances who owned the Rav 4 tried to report the Rav 4 had been stolen, the CHP said.
Johnson was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing death, according to Sacramento County jail records. He also was being held on suspicion of violating parole. He remained in custody at the downtown Sacramento jail Monday afternoon. His bail amount was set at $1 million for the charges stemming from the crash, but he also was being held without bail on the alleged parole violation.
