DENVER (KDVR) — UPDATE (Aug. 12): Investigators have identified the driver as 54-year-old Elias Francisco Flores.
An arrest warrant has been issued charging Flores with vehicular homicide and felony hit and run.
A bulletin from Metro Denver Crime Stoppers included a picture of Flores, but did not have details about where he lives or what areas he may visit.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to Flores’ arrest. If you have a tip call 720-913-7867.
ORIGINAL (Aug. 11): Denver police are looking for a 2014 white Dodge Ram 1500 in connection to a deadly hit-and-run crash that occurred around 7:50 p.m. Monday.
According to Denver police, the driver had been involved in a crash in a parking lot at the intersection of South Raritan Street and West Mississippi Avenue.
No one was injured in that crash, but police say the driver of the pickup truck sped off from the scene and lost control when turning onto Mississippi.
Police say that’s when the truck went up onto the sidewalk, where a 49-year-old woman was hit and killed. The driver of the truck continued away from the scene without stopping.
Police said the driver of the truck was a white man, and the truck has Colorado license plates ABS-X81.
A Medina Alert was issued for the truck, which was last seen around 8:30 p.m. Monday in the area of South Santa Fe Drive and C-470.
FOX31 obtained exclusive surveillance video showing the full the hit-and-run from Western Slope Driving Institute.
Owner Doreen Rossi was brought to tears when she looked back at her video.
“It is so tragic just one more life lost here, completely innocent,” Rossi said. “Southwest Denver is called the forgotten city, it is forgotten. Nobody cares about what is going on here. It’s horrifying the things that go on that there is no response.”
“There have been so many accidents, so many near misses, so many hit-and-runs,” Terryn Ingram said.
Ingram considers herself a miracle case from Mississippi Avenue because she has survived.
“I myself have been hit twice,” she said.
Both Ingram and Rossi tell Problem Solvers there’s a major lack of enforcement plaguing the neighborhood. We brought up that concern with Councilman Jolon Clark.
“We might need to get more enforcement here in the interim, but there’s not enough man hours in the day to get that kind of enforcement that it would take,” Clark said, adding, “What we need to do, we need to reengineer our streets.”
Clark says there have been talks and plans for a reengineering project along Mississippi Avenue for years and officials are currently trying to figure out what they can budget to get it started.
Problem Solvers requested renderings, details and dates for any project from the city and will update this story as soon as more information is provided.
Denver police say if you are concerned about the safety on a stretch of road in Denver and would like to request enforcement, residents should contact them directly at dpdpeu@denvergov.org.
DPD says residents can request a photo van in their area. The vans may operate in residential areas (35 mph or less), streets bordering parks, school zones and work zones.
Over the past 5 years, Denver has reported:
- 94 accidents in Athmar Park on West Mississippi
- 7 have been in the 1800 block (where the hit-and-run occurred)
- 45 have been near or on West Mississippi and South Lipan (none fatal)
- Most were cited as careless driving or failing to yield or stop
Anyone with information about the pickup driver is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous.