Officers have arrested a man suspected of backing his SUV over a woman by accident and fleeing the scene after realizing what had happened.
CHP Captain Jason Penner said Rontario Brown pulled his car over near the intersection of State Route 94 and Steele Canyon Road at around 3:30 a.m. on July 27 when he and his "on-again, off-again" girlfriend Bernadette Marie Castillo started arguing.
Castillo got out of the car and Brown tried to position his car so that she couldn't run away. Castillo tripped and fell and Brown accidentally ran her over, according to Penner.
“Mr. Brown exited his vehicle, looked and saw the injuries that he caused and then got back in the vehicle," Penner said.
Medics took the woman to Sharp Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead, CHP said.
Janelle Rivera said she did not witness the crash but arrived before officers and saw a man attempt to wake the incoherent woman as she lied on the ground bleeding heavily. Then she saw him drive off.
Brown's car was found abandoned on Oakdale Avenue in El Cajon on July 29, according to Penner. He said Brown had been in hiding since the accident.
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CHP investigators, with the help of a team made up of law enforcement from multiple local agencies, found Brown on Tuesday at a Best Western Hotel in Coronado and arrested him without incident.
Brown faces felony vehicular manslaughter, hit and run and assault with a deadly weapon charges and is being held on $750,000 bail.
“Had he stayed there at the scene and cooperated with us obviously there would be much lesser charges involved," Penner said.
Penner said surveillance video caught Brown fleeing the scene in his SUV.
Brown has known Castillo for more than 13 years, according to Penner.
“Had he stayed there at the scene and cooperated with us obviously there would be much lesser charges involved.”
