Police hope a paint chip and part of a headlight found at the
scene of a fatal hit-and-run accident last Sunday will lead them to
the person responsible for the death of a Hollister resident.
Police hope a paint chip and part of a headlight found at the scene of a fatal hit-and-run accident last Sunday will lead them to the person responsible for the death of a Hollister resident.
Ray Villegas was killed while walking in the area of 1360 McCloskey Rd. Sunday night when a silver or champagne colored pick-up truck or jeep struck him from behind and killed him, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP determined the headlight lens was originally manufactured by the Chrysler Corporation, but aren’t sure of how many other vehicles it could belong to, said CHP Officer Terry Mayes.
“We’re going to do a follow up at the dealership to see how many vehicles it would fit on,” Mayes said. “And we should be able to take the paint chip and identify how many types of vehicles (are that color), because it’s color-coded for paint-specific colors.”
An officer working the graveyard shift assisted at the scene Sunday night and took it upon himself to find what type of vehicle the lens could fit on. He conducted an investigation on his own time, Mayes said.
“In this job you see things and it hangs on, because it seems so senseless that somebody did that and the people split,” Mayes said.
The leg-work could take another week or two before the organization is positive what kind of vehicle it’s looking for, Mayes said.
The CHP also believes a small white sedan was at the scene at the time of the accident and is still looking for the driver of that vehicle, Mayes said.
“The driver of the white sedan may have seen something relevant, or they could have been traveling together,” she said. “We don’t know that the white sedan may not also have been involved.”
Just because the lens was manufactured by Chrysler doesn’t mean it couldn’t belong to another make of vehicle. While the CHP is trying to narrow down the exact type of vehicle, officers still believe it could have been a Chevrolet or a GMC model, Mayes said.
Once the CHP is able to definitely determine which kind of make, model and color the suspect vehicle is, officers will be able to search more efficiently for it, Mayes said.
“Then we will know within a high degree of certainty what we’re looking for,” she said. “We’re really after the public’s assistance. Most people don’t want to rat out their neighbor… But if they have any information… anybody that observed a vehicle in that area, please call and tell us what you saw.”
Anyone with more information pertaining to the incident or concerning either vehicle is asked to contact the Hollister/Gilroy California Highway Patrol at (408) 848-2324 or 1-866-502-5058.
Erin Musgrave can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 336 or at
em*******@fr***********.com.
