Juvenile killed in hit-and-run wreck in Pueblo, marking city's 3rd in just over a week
A juvenile male was killed in a hit-and-run crash Wednesday night, marking Pueblo's third fatal hit-and-run in a period of just eight days.
Pueblo police announced Thursday that officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Gaylord Avenue just before 10 p.m. Wednesday night on a report of a motor vehicle crash. When officers arrived, they found a vehicle upside down in the yard of a local residence and the juvenile victim lying on the ground.
The juvenile, who has not yet been publicly identified, was transported to a local hospital for treatment but died from his injuries.
Police said Wednesday in a news release that witnesses at the scene reported seeing “two females standing around the vehicle who walked towards the Alta Convenience Store, where they were picked up by a brown or tan Ford Explorer.”
The Pueblo Police Department’s traffic and crime scene investigations units assisted officers with their investigation, which determined that the vehicle was traveling northbound on Prairie Avenue, turned eastbound onto Thatcher Avenue and “appeared to be out of control and drove up on the sidewalk, where it collided with a chain-link fence and began to roll over,” according to Pueblo PD’s release.
“The vehicle rolled across Gaylord Avenue, where it came to rest. It was determined that the juvenile victim was walking toward the Alta Convenience Store when he was struck by the vehicle.”
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The victim will be identified by the county coroner, pending notification of his next of kin. His death marks the third fatal hit-and-run in Pueblo just over a week.
On Tuesday, June 13, 65-year-old Jonathan Weinell was killed in a hit-and-run crash in the 200 block of Broadway Avenue. Danny Espinoza, 40, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide in that case.
Two days later on June 15, Martin William Martinez, 37, was killed in another hit-and-run crash in the 900 block of West Arroyo Avenue. Martinez suffered serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police recovered the suspect vehicle involved in the wreck in the 1000 block of East Evans Avenue. Pueblo PD spokesperson Sgt. Frank Ortega told the Chieftain earlier this week that police believe they’ve identified an individual who was in the vehicle before the crash but were working to prove that person was in the vehicle when the collision occurred.
Chieftain editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com or on Twitter @ZachHillstrom. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Juvenile killed in hit-and-run wreck in Pueblo
