Sacramento police arrest man in hit-and-run crash, one year after homeless cyclist’s death

A man accused of fatally hitting a bicyclist last year in the Railyards area of downtown during a vehicle collision, then driving away, was arrested Thursday, Sacramento police said Friday.

A caller reported the collision just before 5:40 a.m. Aug. 17, 2023, on Railyards Boulevard between Bercut Drive and Fifth Street, in which a man biking was struck by a vehicle, police said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as Brandon Waite, 40. The coroner’s webpage for motor vehicle deaths listed Waite as homeless.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run resulting in death or permanent injury, arson and a misdemeanor of falsely reporting a crime.

He also faces two misdemeanors related to a different case, according to online jail records.

The suspect, who is being held in downtown Sacramento County Main jail in lieu of $80,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.