Police: Family fight ends in death
July 4th, 2008 @ 1:14pm
by KPHO.com

Mesa police said they found the body of a hit-and-run victim Thursday night who minutes before the accident was allegedly assaulting his wife and her cousin.

The cousin, Martin Rodriquez, 21, was later arrested and booked on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Rodriquez was driving a car with his female cousin as a passenger, investigators said.

Officers said the pair was trying to get away from her husband. But the husband was in a truck that was reportedly ramming them from behind near 22nd Street and University, police said.

At some point, the husband got out of the truck and jumped on the hood of Rodriquez's vehicle, investigators said. When Rodriquez tried to drive away, the husband on the hood fell off and was run over by the car and killed instantly.

Rodriguez then kept driving to a nearby grocery store where he ditched the car and took off on foot, police said. Several hours later, he turned himself in.

According to court documents, Rodriquez told investigators he ran because he is in the U.S. illegally and was afraid of being deported.

Had he not left the scene, police said Rodriguez probably would not have been arrested because up to that point he was an apparent victim.

The new Mesa police policy regarding illegal immigrants just announced this week states that victims of crimes will not be asked residency status.



http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=887690