Less than a week after an 18-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed near Haster and Leatrice in Anaheim, Traffic Investigators have arrested the driver of the suspect vehicle. Osvaldo Soto-Juarez, a 20-year-old Anaheim resident, was arrested without incident on Nov. 29.
APD officers responded to a call of a woman lying in the roadway on Haster Street just before 9 p.m. on Nov. 24. The woman, 18-year-old Jacqueline Diaz-Lara, was suffering from major injuries and appeared to have been struck by a vehicle. Diaz-Lara was transported to UCIMC, but succumbed to her injuries on Nov. 27.
The only clue at the scene was a small piece of debris from the suspect vehicle. Investigators were able to determine the debris came from an Isuzu Rodeo and began searching DMV records for similar vehicles registered in Orange County. Investigators ultimately located Soto-Juarez’s vehicle, which not only matched the description, but was also missing the piece recovered at the scene.
Soto-Juarez was booked at the Anaheim Detention Facility for felony hit and fun with the statutorily set bail of $100,000. A booking photo will not be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation.
