Good Samaritan Helped Track Down Hit & Run Suspect
By Suzanne McCarroll
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4)- Just before midnight Thursday, Lakewood police say a driver ran down and killed a female pedestrian and then kept driving. It happened on Colfax Avenue near Wadsworth Boulevard. Police arrested Jonathan Cordova, who they say has three previous DUI's.
A Good Samaritan saw it happen and called 911 while following the suspect's car.
Joaquin doesn't want us to use his last name for fear of retaliation by the suspect or his family, but he also didn't want to let the guy get away.
"We had the green light and I didn't see any signs of the guy trying to stop his car, he just hit the lady and she flew up in the air. I kind of speed up and tried to tell this guy 'hey man you just hit somebody,'" said Joaquin.
Joaquin kept following the suspect as he weaved in and out of neighborhoods, making u turns until the suspect stopped to confront Joaquin, "He asked me, 'Why are you following me?'"
Lakewood Police say Joaquin's help was critical in the arrest.
"We can't do our job out here without the citizens helping us out every day," says Lakewood Police Detective Dave Hoover.
Joaquin's wife pointed out that this all happened on the one year anniversary of Joaquin surviving a heart attack and that she thinks it is fate that he was able to help police with the arrest .
Joaquin agrees, "It's not a coincidence, it's maybe a sign."
CBS4's Suzanne McCarroll asks "This was the good deed you were kept alive to do?"
Joaquin replies, "Probably so or maybe something later."
Cordova, 53, faces charges of hit and run, vehicular homicide and DUI. All three charges are felonies.
Suzanne McCarroll is a general assignment reporter at CBS4. Her stories can regularly be seen on CBS4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Connect with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @SuzanneCBS4.