Would-Be Carjacker Run Over, Killed On Cajalco Road: CHP

PERRIS, CA — Investigators determined that a 23-year-old man run over and killed on a Perris-area street by a driver who fled the scene was attempting to commit a carjacking when he was hit, the California Highway Patrol reported Monday.

Christian Chavez of Riverside was killed Friday night after an unidentified motorist struck him on Cajalco Road, just west of Cowan Road, according to CHP Officer Dan Olivas and Riverside County coroner's officials.

According to Olivas, it all started around 8:40 p.m. when Chavez was standing in the middle of Cajalco as a woman at the wheel of a 2008 Infinity G35 approached from the east.

"As she approached the pedestrian, she suddenly observed him in the roadway and attempted to avoid him," Olivas said in a news release. "The left side view mirror struck the pedestrian."

The woman pulled over immediately, he said. Another person who was in the car with her attempted to check on the pedestrian, who was later identified as Chavez.

"The passenger exited the vehicle to check on the pedestrian and the pedestrian entered the Infinity and attempted to carjack the vehicle," Olivas said.

The motorist switched off her ignition but was unable to put the car in park, and it rolled across eastbound lanes, running into a chain-link fence near Gustin Road, according to Olivas. He said the driver ran away, and Chavez slipped behind the wheel, attempting unsuccessfully to restart her car.

That's when Chavez allegedly got out of the Infinity and went back to standing in the middle of Cajalco Road.

Another driver in an SUV, believed to be a GMC Denali, stopped to check on the man, according to Olivas. Chavez then tried to carjack that driver.

"The pedestrian attempted to enter the vehicle," Olivas said. "The driver of that vehicle accelerated away and left the scene."

As that SUV driver left, Chavez fell into the westbound lane of Cajalco Road, the officer said.

"As [Chavez] was lying in the roadway, an unknown driver in an unknown vehicle struck the pedestrian and immediately fled the scene," Olivas said. "Emergency personnel arrived on scene and pronounced the pedestrian deceased on scene."

No one else was injured.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run was asked to call the CHP's Riverside office at (951) 637-8000.

— Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone / City News Service contributed to this report