Suspect in deadly East Palo Alto motorcycle hit-and-run arrested in Central California
An 18-year-old suspected in a hit-and-run that killed a motorcyclist on the Peninsula early Thursday morning was arrested about 200 miles away in the Central Valley, the California Highway Patrol said.
Around 6:05 a.m., officers from the CHP's Redwood City office were called to southbound Highway 101 near University Avenue in East Palo Alto following reports of a motorcycle crash. Officers found the motorcycle and the rider in the transition lane from University Avenue to southbound 101.
The rider, identified by the San Mateo County Coroner's Office as 38-year-old Irma Elizabeth Oxlaj Vargas of Redwood City, was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation determined the motorcyclist was in the 4th lane from the left when the suspect struck the motorcycle and left the scene. As officers searched the scene for evidence, officers found a license plate from the suspect vehicle.
Investigators used the plate to identify the vehicle as an Acura TL sedan. The vehicle was later found abandoned near Vargas Elementary School in Sunnyvale.
Officers also identified the suspected driver as 18-year-old Julian Adame Jr. of Kingsburg and determined that he had fled to the community of Cutler in Tulare County. Cutler is located about 30 miles southeast of Fresno.
Around 12:15 p.m. Thursday, CHP officers located Adame in Cutler and arrested him. Adame was transported to San Mateo County Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter.
Officers did not say how he was able to leave the Bay Area.
"Our thoughts are with the victim's family and loved ones, whose life was lost in this senseless crash," said commander Patrick Etchebame of the CHP Redwood City office. "Leaving the scene does not end your responsibility. Through determined investigative work, and assistance from our allied agency partners, our officers tracked the suspect across multiple counties and took him into custody within hours."
The CHP said investigators have not determined if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.
According to jail records, Adame is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
