This has been a slow developing story in our area that is a big tragedy. I don't know if the guy is illegal but he sure doesn't speak english. Maybe more news will come out how he got into the country.

http://www.10news.com

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Authorites Make Arrest In Hit, Run Case
Man Admits Involvement In Accident

SAN DIEGO -- Detectives Thursday arrested a Mira Mesa man who allegedly admitted involvement in a hit-and-run traffic accident that killed a 29-year-old Marine Corps officer bicycling to work on a Miramar-area street.

Jose Luis Cifuentes, 58, confessed Thursday afternoon to being the driver whose vehicle struck USMC Capt. Patrick Klokow in the 7300 block of Kearny Villa Road early Tuesday morning, San Diego police reported.

Cifuentes underwent several interrogations after being pulled over near the scene of the fatal crash in a minivan with a mangled front end.

He initially insisted the damage had occurred in an unrelated freeway accident, SDPD Detective Sgt. Jeff Fellows said.

Klokow, a Santa Clara native and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, was pedaling to the south near State Route 163 about 6 a.m. when a vehicle hit him from behind at high speed. The involved motorist kept driving, leaving the serviceman dying in the roadway, according to investigators.

About four hours later, a motorcycle officer investigating the crash spotted Cifuentes' Mercury Villager traveling along Kearny Villa Road, about a quarter-mile from the scene of the fatality, Fellows said.

Police pulled Cifuentes over, took him into custody and impounded the vehicle, which had a smashed windshield and crumpled hood.

During an initial round of questioning, Cifuentes said his vehicle had been damaged by lumber that fell out of a truck in front of him as he drove near the intersection of Interstate 805 and State Route 52, Fellows said.

Police found no corroboration for that story, the sergeant said, but released him pending the results of forensic tests on the minivan and a lie-detector exam.

At the time of his death, Klokow was on his way to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he served as commanding officer of a company that trains military instructors.

In January 2003, Klokow deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, then went to Iraq two months later, serving combat duty until that July.

Klokow, a triathlete, had been stationed at MCRD for about two years.

A 1999 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he was married with no children.