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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Nov. 5, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have identified a woman who died early Sunday morning after her Nissan Altima was involved in a crash with a hit-and-run driver in an SUV in West Valley City.
The deceased is Yesenia Castro, 30, said a tweet from West Valley City Police Department Tuesday morning.
The driver of the other car has been identified as Mario Sosa, 37, who has been arrested. Sosa was booked for not having a license and for felony leaving the scene of a fatal accident, the tweet said.
West Valley City Police Lt. Todd Gray said an officer was on patrol in the area at about 12:45 a.m. and happened to drive up on the accident scene, at 3620 S. 3200 West, just as the deadly collision occurred.
The officer got out of his vehicle to check on the injured parties and as he did so, the driver of the SUV, later identified as Sosa, fled on foot eastbound into the neighborhood.
“The officer encountered a seriously injured female in the second vehicle, so the officer stayed to render aid to her,” Gray said. “She was unconscious and not breathing at the time.”
Paramedics arrived at the scene and transported the woman to the hospital, where she was later pronounced deceased.
Gray said it’s possible that two passengers were in the SUV along with the driver, but that has not yet been confirmed.
The police set up a containment area and K-9 officers were brought in, with South Salt Lake Police Department assisting, but they were unable to find the suspect.
“After a certain amount of time that we had containment established without locating the suspect, we assumed the suspect made it out of the containment area,” he said.
Information about the potential owner of the SUV was then verified, Gray said.
The deadly collision wasn’t called in to 911. Gray said a resident heard the crash and saw the West Valley City officer arrive almost simultaneously.
