Affidavit: Man tells police he thought he struck a dog after fatal hit-and-run on South Side
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A woman is dead after a hit-and=run on the South Side late Thursday night.
A woman is dead after a hit-and=run on the South Side late Thursday night.
Photo: Ken Branca
A woman is dead after a hit-and=run on the South Side late Thursday night.
A woman is dead after a hit-and=run on the South Side late Thursday night.
Photo: Ken Branca
A 31-year-old man was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run on the South Side that left a woman dead, according to an arrest affidavit.
Israel Lee Lopez was charged with failure to render aid-death after police say he hit 26-year-old Yvonne Arias with his truck as she was walking across a road on April 2.
Witnesses told police that Arias was walking near the 3200 block of Roosevelt Avenue just after 11 p.m., when a Dodge pickup hit her before driving off, the affidavit said. When police arrived on the scene, they found the victim’s shoes, an unopened pack of cigarettes and a Dodge hood ornament. Arias later died at a local hospital.
READ ALSO: Police searching for driver after woman was hit and killed on South Side
The witnesses said they were walking nearby at the time and heard the impact, and when they turned around they saw a pickup truck sliding out of control toward them, according to the affidavit. Another witness said he was sitting on his porch when he heard the impact and a woman scream.
The next day, Lopez’s mother called police to tell them her son confessed to hitting someone on Roosevelt the night before, the affidavit said. They later saw on the news that the woman had died.
When police went to look at the truck, they said they found significant damage to the front grill and hood, along with hairs in the grill. Lopez had tried to hide the damage by pulling the front of the truck into some bushes, the affidavit said.
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Lopez wasn’t home when police first went to look at the truck, but on April 7, he turned himself in. He told police that he was going through a green light when he hit what he thought was a dog, the affidavit said. Lopez said he got scared and drove away and also lost his glasses and couldn’t see.
He insisted he hit a dog, but asked investigators, “Why would someone walk out when they saw my headlights?,” the affidavit said.
