Hit-and-run driver arrested after fleeing crash scene, fatally striking dog
A Ventura County man is facing charges after he allegedly fled the scene of a collision, killing a stranger’s dog in the process.
According to a release from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, the crash occurred just before 9:45 p.m. on June 8 at the intersection of Los Angeles Avenue and Tierra Rejada Road in Moorpark.
Preliminary information indicates that the victims’ vehicle, a Honda Odyssey minivan, was traveling westbound on Los Angeles when it was struck by a Ford Explorer that ran a red light while traveling north on Tierra Rejada.
The occupants of the minivan were transported to an area hospital for treatment, VCSO said.
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As authorities began their initial investigation, a resident of the 100 block of 2nd Street – located around a mile and a half from the crash site – flagged deputies down and alerted them that a Ford Explorer had struck their dog and fled.
The owner had rushed their dog to a veterinary clinic after it was struck, but it succumbed to the injuries sustained in the crash, police said.
The Ford Explorer involved in the crash was found unoccupied and parked in the 200 block of Ruth Avenue, not far from where the resident flagged deputies down. The SUV was found to have sustained damage consistent with the collision at Los Angeles and Tierra Rejada, VCSO confirmed.
Upon being seized and towed from the scene, law enforcement officials were able to use evidence found in the car to identify the suspect as 29-year-old Jesus Sanchez Valencia of Moorpark.
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Valencia was eventually arrested last Friday and booked into the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura for felony and misdemeanor hit-and-run charges, both stemming from June 8.
He is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on June 28.
Anyone with information on either hit-and-run is encouraged to contact Deputy Andrew Van Gundy with the Moorpark Police Department by calling 805-532-2700.
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