Crime & Safety
Novato Hit-And-Run Victim ID'd
Daniel Glenn Matis, 56, of San Francisco was found dead near U.S. Highway 101 in Novato on Thursday morning.
NOVATO, CA – The Marin County coroner's office has identified a pedestrian who was found dead near U.S. Highway 101 in Novato on Thursday morning as Daniel Glenn Matis, 56, of San Francisco.
Matis was identified after the coroner's office released a digital sketch Monday of the man who was found by a big-rig driver around 1 a.m. Thursday between the Atherton Avenue on-ramp and slow lanes of southbound Highway 101.
A Novato police officer recognized the sketch as a possible match to a driver's license photo found in an abandoned Smart car in the Fireman's Fund parking lot in Novato on Thursday, Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris said.
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Private security personnel found Matis' unattended 2009 Smart car crashed into a pole on East Campus Drive in the Fireman's Fund parking lot around 1:40 a.m. Thursday, Harris said.
Novato police responded and did not find a driver or occupants, but did find an outdated photo of the registered owner in the vehicle, according to Harris.
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California Highway Patrol investigators reviewed private security video of the parking lot and tracked the car's movements before it crashed, Harris said.
The vehicle stopped in front of the light pole, backed up, then accelerated at a high rate of speed into the pole. It was too dark to confirm who was driving the car, Harris said.
An autopsy on Matis is scheduled for today, Harris said.
The CHP investigated Matis' death as a hit-and-run after vehicle parts were found near his body near the Atherton Avenue on-ramp to the highway.
On Saturday, CHP officials said they located and took into evidence a vehicle believed to be involved in a hit-and-run. The CHP identified the vehicle as a silver 2006 to 2013 Nissan Versa with damage on the right side of the vehicle.
On Monday, CHP officials said a Hayward resident is considered a person of interest in the hit-and-run collision. As of this morning, there has not been an arrest.
ALSO SEE:
CHP Has Person Of Interest In Fatal Novato Hit-And-Run; Marin Coroner Releases Sketch Of Victim
Fatal Novato Hit-And-Run: CHP Finds Car, Credits Community's Help
Fatal Novato Hit-And-Run: CHP Seeks Car Used In Collision
Man Killed In Novato Hit-And-Run Crash
Bay City News contributed to this report.
Image courtesy of Marin County Coroner’s Office
