Coroner IDs Man Killed In Highway Hit-And-Run After He Left Suspected DUI Crash

SAN JOSE, CA - A man who walked away from a car crash and was killed in a hit-and-run collision Sunday on a downtown San Jose highway has been identified as 20-year-old Ronald Diaz, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office.

Diaz was one of seven people in a 1997 Honda Passport driven by 19-year-old Izabell Fernandez, who was later arrested on suspicion of DUI and hit-and-run, California Highway Patrol officials said.

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The Honda was on the connector ramp from northbound Interstate Highway 280 to southbound state Highway 87 shortly before 4 a.m. when it overturned and landed on its roof on the right shoulder, according to the CHP. Everyone in the Honda ran away from the vehicle, but officers were able to stop four passengers at the bottom of the ramp, CHP officials said.

San Jose police officers detained Fernandez and another passenger near Highway 87 at West Virginia Street, according to the CHP. Fernandez suffered minor injuries and was later booked into Santa Clara County Jail along with a 27-year-old passenger from San Jose, who was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication, CHP officials said.

The four other passengers were transported to San Jose hospitals for minor injuries, according to the CHP.

Diaz fled to northbound Highway 87 south of Santa Clara Street, where a car struck him about 20 minutes later, CHP officials said. Officers had responded to the scene on a report of a traffic hazard and found Diaz, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the CHP.

The vehicle that struck the 20-year-old has not been found and the driver has not been identified, CHP officials said.

Anyone who witnessed the initial crash or subsequent hit-and-run is asked to call the San Jose-area CHP office at (408) 467-5400.

--Bay City News