Woman arrested for deadly hit-and-run in Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) -- A woman previously believed to be a passenger inside a lifted pickup truck that was involved in a fatal crash with a pedestrian on Monday in Santa Rosa was determined to be the driver, according to an update released Wednesday by authorities. Fatima Corona Bautista was taken into custody Tuesday night and booked into the Sonoma County Jail for felony hit-and-run causing death. The man who allegedly told the Santa Rosa Police Department on the day of the fatal crash that he was the driver, 21-year-old Isreal Ramirez Sanchez, was arrested on an accessory charge. “Based on witness statements and newly obtained evidence, investigators determined that Israel Ramirez Sanchez was the passenger in the vehicle that struck the deceased victim, not the driver as previously believed,” police wrote Wednesday. The collision occurred around 2:52 p.m. on Monday on West College Avenue at Clover Drive. According to the preliminary investigation, a man in a wheelchair was attempting to cross the avenue south inside the west crosswalk. The involved lifted GMC truck was stopped at a red light traveling in the eastbound direction. “He was still attempting to cross the street when the light for eastbound traffic turned green,” Santa Rosa PD wrote. “The driver of the truck began to proceed through the intersection at a slow rate of speed, colliding with the victim in the crosswalk.” Corona Bautista and Ramirez Sanchez got out of the GMC and approached the victim before getting back into the truck and fleeing, authorities said. Police were able to identify the truck through security camera video and automated license plate readers. While officers were on the way to the truck’s registered address, authorities said a relative of Ramirez Sanchez contacted Santa Rosa PD to report that the suspect was at their home and was ready to surrender. Ramirez Sanchez “confessed to driving the truck at the time of the collision,” police wrote, and was arrested for felony hit-and-run resulting in death. The identity of the pedestrian has not been released pending notification of next of kin. Anyone with information related to the crash is asked to contact accident investigator Brendan Sawyer at [email protected].