Fatal hit-and-run suspect on the run after dragging woman, dog for 8 miles

FRESNO, Calif. (Gray News) – Police are searching for the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run in which they say the victim and her dog were killed and dragged for more than eight miles.

The Fresno Police Department said shortly before 2 a.m. on Friday, officers were dispatched to a La Quinta Inn for reports of a dead body in the parking lot. When officers arrived, they found partial remains of a female.

During the investigation, officers learned that the woman had been struck by a vehicle at an intersection more than eight miles away from the hotel. Police discovered that the victim, identified as a 29-year-old woman who was known to be a transient in the area, was pushing a shopping cart and walking her dog on a leash when she was struck.

Police also said they believe the woman was crossing at a crosswalk when she was hit.

Police said the woman was trapped under the suspect’s vehicle and dragged for more than eight miles until the truck stopped at the La Quinta Inn.

The victim’s dog was also killed, police confirmed in a Facebook comment.

Surveillance video captured the suspect pulling into the hotel’s parking lot, exiting his vehicle, then leaving again shortly after. Police said the suspect went inside the hotel to try to rent a room, but he was turned away because there were no more rooms available. When he pulled away from the parking lot, the victim’s body was released from underneath the vehicle and left in the parking lot as the driver took off.

Fresno police said the suspect vehicle is a newer model, silver, full-size Chevy Silverado with a moon roof, a light bar, and a silver toolbox in the bed. Police said the truck has significant front-end damage from hitting the victim and her dog.

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect. If you have any information, or see the vehicle, please call Detective Robert Cegielski at (559) 621-5064 or Detective Brian Hance at (559) 621-5057.