Tips help Horizon City police arrest 2 drivers in hit-and-run death of bicyclist
Horizon City police investigators have arrested the alleged hit-and-run drivers of two vehicles that struck and ran over a bicyclist in a collision last week.
Tips from the public assisted police in finding the drivers suspected in the death of 44-year-old Roberto Antonio Fernandez, who was killed while riding a bicycle in the early morning of Sept. 25 on Horizon Boulevard, police officials said.
Sofia Maribel Gonzalez, 25, and Benito Cabrera Licona, 79, were both arrested on Friday, Sept. 29, on charges of collision involving a death, police said. The second driver's name is spelled as Benito Lincona Cabrera on a jail log.
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Gonzalez and Cabrera both remained jailed on Sunday initially under a $100,000 bond each at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.
At a Sunday teleconference bond hearing, Magistrate Judge Ruben Nuñez lowered Gonzalez's bond to $25,000 after Gonzalez's attorney, Bryan Herrera, pointed out she has no criminal history and isn't a flight risk.
Gonzalez works as a rehab tech at a nursing home and just got into a program with the goal of becoming a registered nurse, her attorney noted.
Cabrera is listed as residing in Chaparral, New Mexico, and Gonzalez is from East El Paso, according to jail records.
Police said that neither driver stopped to help nor called 911 to report the crash.
At 2:51 a.m. on Sept. 25, a Horizon City police officer on patrol found Fernandez dead on the roadway near the new Applebee's restaurant at 13780 Horizon Blvd., officials said.
Police traffic investigators determined that the collision occurred at 2:48 a.m. when the bicyclist was first hit by one car and then ran over by the second car. Fernandez died at the scene.
Prosecutor: Driver knew she hit bicyclist in Horizon City
The scene was filmed by security camera and investigators found debris belonging to a Volkswagen Jetta, Assistant District Attorney Danica Carman said at Sunday's hearing. Police received an anonymous tip where to find the Jetta, which belonged to Gonzalez.
"There was a dent on the hood in the shape of a human and there was an impact mark on the windshield that was consistent in the size with the strike of a human head and more damage on the roof of the car," Carman said.
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When questioned, Gonzalez allegedly told investigators that “she knew she hit the individual, that she was startled and scared and that’s why she left," Carman said.
Carman said that Gonzalez allegedly told police that she saw the second vehicle hit the man and she assumed that driver would stop and render aid.
"She hit someone and killed them," Carman said, arguing for the bond not to be reduced. "She knew that she hit them and she chose not to stay on site and she saw someone else hit this individual and just assumed that someone else would step up and take responsibility.”
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Horizon City police arrest 2 drivers in bicyclist's hit-and-run death
