A driver was arrested after he allegedly struck and killed a woman in Anaheim as he was fleeing a police car from nearby Placentia, officials said.
The woman was struck at about 1:10 a.m. in the 700 block of East Street in Anaheim, according to Jon McClintock of the Anaheim Police Department.
Investigators said the victim, a woman in her 40s, was hit by a vehicle whose driver was trying to flee the Placentia Police Department.
Police spotted the stolen vehicle as the driver turned onto East Street and began driving the wrong way. At one point, the driver lost control and collided with several fences before striking the female pedestrian on a sidewalk as he was speeding.
The woman was later declared dead at a local hospital, while the driver fled on foot after the crash, McClintock said.
Footage from the scene shows a white BMW X5 crashed into a fence around a home, with the front half of the vehicle coming to rest in the house’s front yard and the back half of the SUV remaining on the sidewalk.
At around 9:10 a.m., Anaheim police responded to a church on the 1400 block of East La Palma Avenue regarding a suspicious person. A man found at the church was determined to be the suspect driver in the fatal crash, police said.
He was taken into custody on multiple charges including vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit and run resulting in injury or death, driving under the influence causing bodily injury, auto theft, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
“Investigators are withholding the man’s identity at this time due to the ongoing investigation,” authorities said. “The suspect’s identity will be released in the next few days.”
McClintock said that the investigation so far indicates that Placentia officers were not in pursuit of the driver when the crash occurred.
Detectives are asking anyone with information about the crash to contact Anaheim PD at 714-765-1900, Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIPOCCS or submit an online tip at occrimestoppers.org.
