A 23-year-old man was arrested in connection to a hit-and-run near downtown two weeks ago that fatally injured a pedestrian, police said Wednesday night.
Andrew Ortiz was taken into custody by traffic detectives and he was booked into the Pima County jail on suspicion of failure to stop at a collision involving death or serious physical injury, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman, in a news release June 21.
On June 20, police released details about the crash and a person contacted detectives with information. Detectives found the vehicle involved in the crash, and the investigation led to Ortiz's arrest.
Rafiq Oulebsir, 30, was the victim in the hit-and-run and he died from Internal injuries Sunday, June 18, at Banner-University Medical Center, Dugan said.
On June 10 at 4 a.m., police responded to a residence in the 500 block of East Speedway for a check welfare. The 911 caller told officers he heard a loud crash and then found the injured man yelling in his front yard.
Officers noticed serious injuries to one of the man's legs and Tucson Fire Department paramedics treated and took him to the hospital.
The victim was not able to explain what happened, but officers determined that he was truck by a vehicle based on witness statements and debris in the road.
Traffic detectives determined that the victim was walking in the road when he was struck by a vehicle traveling east near Speedway and North Third Avenue. Detectives believe the vehicle is a blue 2004 to 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser, Dugan said.
Detectives are still asking that anyone with information about the crash call 88-CRIME, an anonymous tipster hotline.
Since January, there have been 28 traffic fatalities in the city, compared to the same number of fatals at this time last year, police data shows.
