An Eastern Municipal Water District employee working at a location in the City of Moreno Valley was struck by a hit-and-run driver, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced on Friday.
On November 17 at 3:20 a.m., deputies from the Riverside Sheriff’s Moreno Vally Station were dispatched to the intersection of Cottonwood Avenue and Graham Street regarding a traffic collision involving a vehicle versus a pedestrian and located the victim in the roadway.
Deputies learned the suspect fled the area in a vehicle and began a search. The victim, a 52-year-old resident of Hemet, was identified as an employee of the Eastern Municipal Water District and was working at the location at the time of the collision, the sheriff’s department said. The victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect vehicle was located a short time later on Cactus Avenue east of Frederick Street, occupied by the suspect, 21-year-old Jose Andres Mateo Rodas of Moreno Valley. The suspect vehicle, a 2000 Acura, was found to have minor damage on the hood consistent with the collision, according to the sheriff’s department.
The Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station Traffic Collision Reconstruction Team assumed the investigation. Rodas was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on felony driving under the influence and felony hit-and-run charges.
