Police make arrest hours after fatal hit and run

A man police say fatally hit a woman with his car as she crossed the street in southeast Fresno on Saturday evening has been arrested, said Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez.

Dashawn Anthony Collins, 25, was arrested hours after he allegedly fled from the area of Clovis Avenue and Kings Canyon Road where a 49-year-old woman was found in the southbound lane of Clovis Avenue.

A witness followed his black compact car to a Citibank nearby, said Lt. Carl McKight, but Collins allegedly jumped a fence and officers lost sight, even after calling a helicopter in.

Collins was arrested in southeast Fresno on suspicion of hit and run causing death and driving on a suspended license and without proof of financial responsibility.

A collision reconstruction team was to take over the investigation and determine exactly what happened. The woman, McKnight said, at one point had crossed toward the east side of Clovis Avenue but was returning to the west side of the street.

“Legally in these things, if the (driver) just stopped, it would’ve just been an accident,” McKnight said on Saturday night. “The problem is they took off, which now makes it a crime.”

McKnight said there is no crosswalk where the woman was hit but the street was well-lit. The hit-and-run occurred at about 7 p.m.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released.

This story was originally published November 26, 2017 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Police make arrest hours after fatal hit and run."