Broken windshield, mirror replaced after collision that killed Clovis vice principal

Rogelio Alvarez Maravilla, who’s accused of killing Clovis Unified vice principal Gavin Gladding on Friant Road, has admitted to being the driver in the fatal hit-and-run collision last month, newly released Fresno Superior Court documents say.

The documents also identified Fernanda Jakeline Lopez, 18, as being in the pickup with Alvarez Maravilla when the deadly collision happened.

Alvarez Maravilla, 18, has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of fleeing an accident and three misdemeanors – vehicular manslaughter, driving without a license and destroying evidence. He remains free on $6,100 bail until his next court hearing on Oct. 24.

If convicted of all charges, Alvarez Maravilla faces up to four years behind bars, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said.

Gladding, 43, a vice principal at Fort Washington Elementary School, was training for a marathon when he was struck on the shoulder of Friant Road, west of Willow Avenue, at about 6 a.m. on Sept. 16.

Alvarez Maravilla was arrested five days later when he turned himself in.

The new documents include an affidavit by California Highway Patrol officer Hipolito Pelayo in support of a search warrant to get data from Alvarez Maravilla’s and Lopez’s cell phones.

The affidavit say the CHP obtained surveillance video that helped detectives solve the case. According to Pelayo’s affidavit, the video shows a dark-colored, four-door Chevrolet Silverado on Friant Road. The truck had front-end damage, including a broken windshield and a broken passenger side mirror, the affidavit says.

After the CHP asked the public for help in finding the pickup, Fresno defense lawyer Eddie Ruiz, who represents Alvarez Maravilla, called the CHP in the afternoon of Sept. 21.

Ruiz told the CHP that Alvarez Maravilla was ready to turn himself in. Ruiz also said the pickup was at a home on Floral Avenue near Cedar Avenue, southeast of Easton.

Later that afternoon, officers recovered the pickup, noting that it had “damage that was consistent with the traffic collision,” the affidavit says. But the damaged windshield and passenger side mirror had already been replaced, the affidavit says.

The pickup was registered to the defendant, the affidavit says.

Alvarez Maravilla turned himself in around 8:45 p.m. Sept. 21. He admitted to driving the pickup “at the time of the collision with the pedestrian/victim,” the affidavit says.

Lopez, who was interviewed later that night, admitted to being the passenger in the truck at the time of the collision, the affidavit says. Lopez said she still felt soreness from the collision. She told the CHP that broken glass from the windshield got stuck in her hair and on her clothing. But she declined to say more without a lawyer, the affidavit says.