Thread: OR - Neighbor arraigned in hit-and-run death of toddler

November 25, 2009

Neighbor arraigned in hit-and-run death of toddler

By Stacey Barchenger
Statesman Journal

The man who police suspect hit and killed a 2-year-old girl in northeast Salem Tuesday lived within eyesight of the girl’s house and the site where she died.

But he took off from the scene and hid from police until nearly six hours after the crash, when two callers outed his location to police.

Juan Lopez-Perez, 31, was arrested at a home in the 2100 block of Maple Avenue NE, according to Salem police Chief Jerry Moore.

Lopez-Perez was arraigned today and is being held in Marion County jail on $80,000 bail.

Just before 6 p.m. Tuesday police were called to the Stoneridge Apartments in the 2800 block of Sunnyview Road NE at the report of a hit-and-run crash.

Erika Rubi Meza, 2, died in the parking lot after she was hit by a truck that fled the scene, Moore said.

The suspect truck, identified as a white Ford F150, was nowhere to be found.

Police received two tips that led them to find the truck with license plate 111DBC, which matched witness accounts from the scene, according to a probable cause statement written by Salem police Officer Oscar Zambrano.

A probable cause statement is a document that provides legal ground for holding a person in jail.

About 11:30 p.m., the first caller reported a woman had driven a white truck to the intersection of South Street and Maple Avenue, the statement reads. The woman who called suspected the truck was stolen.

Police matched the license plate of the truck at the intersection at South Street and Maple Avenue to the one in the crash, the statement reads.

Police set up a perimeter to search for the suspect and then at 11:40 p.m. fielded a call from an anonymous person.

That person reported the suspect was at a home in the 2100 block of Maple Avenue about two blocks away from where the truck was found abandoned, police said.

They went to the home and Lopez-Perez ran out the back door, the probable cause statement reads.

He was taken into custody and is being held in Marion County jail on two felony counts of failing to perform the duties of a driver in a crash and an immigration hold, according to court and jail records.

While interviewing Lopez-Perez, police determined he had asked the woman living at the home where he was found to move the truck, according to the probable cause statement.

“She asked him why and he admitted to hitting the 2 year old with his truck and leaving the scene,â€

While interviewing Lopez-Perez, police determined he had asked the woman living at the home where he was found to move the truck, according to the probable cause statement.

SHE needs to be checked out too! Aiding and abetting, harboring a wanted person. She's every bit as guilty as he is, and odds are great she's illegal too.

Check this out:


0% Approve
OVERALL RATING
Stoneridge Apartments
3864 Sunnyview Rd
Salem, OR 97305


Safety: (These all got 1 star out of 5, 0 wasn't an option)
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This apartment has 1 review
Hope You Can Yell In Spanish!

Reviewed by:
Review Date: 7/21/2008
Rented: From 2008 To 2008

This is where illegals come to live with their 47 other relatives.


http://www.apartmentreviews.net/ratings ... r59588.htm