Crime & Safety
Driver Pleads Not Guilty To Fatal Hit-and-Run In Lincoln Park
BREAKING: The 22-year-old turned himself in to police six days after the accident.
SAN DIEGO, CA – A motorist who allegedly fled after hitting a Lincoln Park man near his home pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of hit-and-run resulting in death.
Darius Jordan Runnells, 22, surrendered to police on April 11, six days after the death of 57-year-old Ruben Meza.
Meza was walking away from his parked truck toward his apartment when a southbound sedan with black rims hit him at high speed in the 1200 block of South 47th Street about 8:15 p.m. on April 5, Lt. Scott Bender said. The motorist did not stop.
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Medics took the victim to Scripps Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Runnells -- ordered held on $50,000 bail -- faces four years in prison if convicted. He will be back in court April 28 for a readiness conference and May 2 for a preliminary hearing.