Suspected hit-and-run driver tracked down after naked sprint through neighborhood

Hit-and-run collisions, including one involving a naked man, kept police on their toes Wednesday after two crashes in central Fresno.

Shortly after 1 p.m. at Palm and Simpson avenues, the driver of a 2009 Toyota Corolla slammed into a Fiat. Lt. Joe Gomez said the Toyota driver, identified as Jonathan Christopher Ramos, 32, of Fresno, ran a half-mile back to his home in the 400 block of East Dayton Avenue. His wife told police that he was suffering from mental pressures and had taken off in the family vehicle. When he returned home on foot, he told her everything was all right, then removed his clothes, got down on the ground and rolled around in the grass, she told police.

A short time later, a neighbor called police to report a naked man in her backyard.

Police found Ramos hiding in a trash bin in the backyard. He was arrested on charges of misdemeanor hit and run and driving on a suspended license and then was taken to Community Regional Medical Center for a mental health evaluation.

The Fiat driver, a woman in her 30s, was not injured in the crash, Gomez said.

About two hours earlier, a driver of an SUV slammed into two cars, toppling one, at First Street and McKinley Avenue. The driver sped away south on First, but damage to the SUV apparently forced him to abandon the vehicle in the rear of an apartment complex at Olive and Augusta avenues. Officers were searching for the suspect.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Suspected hit-and-run driver tracked down after naked sprint through neighborhood."