A Carlsbad man faces charges for stealing the purse of a pregnant woman who was killed in a hit-and-run crash over the weekend.
Officers arrested Mark Christopher Struk, 31, on Monday. He denied the theft to the media as he was being transferred to a patrol car. When he was released from jail Wednesday, a television station reported friends waited to take him home. He told the news crew he is "Guilty of nothing other than being a good Samaritan. My heart goes out to the family."
The crash occurred early Sunday morning on northbound Interstate 5 in Solana Beach. Yine Gonzalez, 24, was partially ejected from the Ford Explorer she and her family were riding in. Several Marines stopped and tried to rescue her, but she and her unborn baby did not survive.
During the commotion of that horrific accident scene a car pulled over, a woman got out of the passenger side, stole the victim's purse, and then the car drove away, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officers said Struk was the man behind the wheel of the car that stopped. Struk told a television news reporter that he "physically dropped the purse by the vehicle" and spoke to a man standing near the victim's car.
CHP investigators said they are still looking for the stolen purse and the woman who grabbed it. Officers said witnesses at the scene gave them detailed descriptions and a license plate number that led them to Struk.
"Statements by the public -- witnesses that were there immediately after the scene and observed and were able to describe exactly what happened -- they gave very accurate descriptions of the parties that were involved and we went from there," said CHP officer Mark Latulippe.
Struk will face a felony theft charge.
John Francis Sudac, 27, surrendered Sunday night in connection with the crash. Officers said he is the man who caused the accident and now faces gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges. Sudac was released on $200,000 bail on Tuesday night. He is due back in court Monday.
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