Clovis school VP was alive after being struck by driver who made U-turn to flee

Clovis Unified school administrator Gavin Gladding was still alive after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, who then made a U-turn to flee the crime scene, newly released Fresno Superior Court documents says.

An ambulance rushed Gladding to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, where his wife, Susan Gladding, identified him as her husband at the time of his death, the documents say.

Rogelio Alvarez Maravilla, 18, of Fresno, 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.

His girlfriend, Fernanda Jakeline Lopez, 18, and friend, Moises Antonio Valdez Guerrero, 23, both of Fresno, also have been arrested in connection with Gladding’s death. They, too, have posted bail, but have not yet been charged. Lopez and Valdez Guerrero, however, were ordered to report to court on Oct. 24.

The new documents include an affidavit by Evan Rugg, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol, in support of a warrant to search the three suspect’s social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and Instragram.

Gladding, 43, a vice principal at Fort Washington Elementary School, was training for a marathon when he was struck by a pickup on the shoulder of Friant Road shortly before 6 a.m. Sept. 16.

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

Auto parts specialist helped investigator

Rugg’s affidavit says three people jogging behind Gladding witnessed the deadly collision. The affidavit also credited the Fresno Police Department, Brighton Crest Estates and Table Mountain Casino for handing over surveillance video, and an auto parts specialist at Michael Automotive Center in Fresno for helping to solve the case.

The affidavit gives this account:

When the first CHP officer responded to the hit-and-run at 5:59 a.m. on Friant Road at Old Friant Road, an emergency crew was already preparing Gladding to be transported to CRMC.

The three witnesses told CHP officer J. Marsh that they were jogging south on Friant Road on the west asphalt shoulder when a dark-colored, southbound pickup “drove onto the asphalt shoulder” and struck Gladding.

“The pickup spun out of control across Friant Road and came to rest facing north in the northbound lanes,” the affidavit says. “The driver of the pickup then made a U-turn and fled the scene traveling south in the southbound lanes of Friant Road.”

At the scene, Marsh found a detached driver side mirror from a General Motors vehicle. The mirror had a chrome cap and a sticker bearing several numbers.

Marsh left the crime scene and went to CRMC and contacted Susan Gladding. “A short time later, Mr. Gladding succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead,” the affidavit says.

That same day, the CHP obtained a video from the Fresno Police Department. The video showed the intersection of Friant Road and Fresno Street around 6:05 a.m. Sept. 16, when a dark-colored pickup appears. “The pickup had a smashed windshield, a missing passenger side rear view mirror and a driver side rear view mirror with a chrome cap,” the affidavit says.

The CHP also obtained video from the security office at Brighton Crest Estates on Millerton Road. The video showed a dark blue General Motors crew cab pickup traveling west on Millerton Road at 5:45 a.m. Sept. 16, just minutes before the collision.

The next day, CHP investigator C. Moran reached out to Steve Carpenter at Michael Automotive Center at Bullard and Blackstone avenues. Using the part number on the broken mirror, Carpenter determined it came from a 2005-2007 General Motors pickup or sports utility vehicle.

Using this information, and information collected from the three witnesses, the CHP began looking for a dark-colored 2005-2007 GMC Sierra or Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

On Sept. 20, the CHP obtained another video from a surveillance camera at Table Mountain Casino that showed a dark blue GM pickup traveling south on Sky Harbor Road, north of Millerton Road, at 5:44 a.m. Sept. 16.

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 “he is representing the driver of the pickup that killed Mr. Gladding,” the affidavit says. Ruiz then identified Alvarez Marvilla as the driver and said he was going to turn himself in.

Truck was found concealed

Ruiz also told the CHP that Alvarez Maravilla’s pickup was at a home on Floral Avenue near Cedar Avenue, southeast of Easton. Ruiz gave the CHP permission to enter the property and recover the vehicle. CHP officers to the home and were greeted by the defendant’s parents, Rogelio Alvarez Jr. and Delfina Maravilla Alvarez. “Rogelio Alvarez Jr. opened the gate and invited the officers onto the property,” the affidavit says.

A dark blue Chevrolet Silverado crew cab pickup was found under a canopy hidden behind some hanging tarps. The truck was registered to the defendant’s parents.

The pickup had a dented right front fender, a large dent on the bottom of the right front passenger door, a large dent on top of the door and dents on three sides of the window frame. “There was broken glass clearly visible on and within the vehicle,” the affidavit says. There also was evidence – blue masking tape and imprints of suction cups on glass – to show the windshield had been replaced, the affidavit says. “Further, the passenger side mirror had been replaced along with the driver’s side mirror; both mirrors had been changed from having chrome caps to matte black,” 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.

Once Alvarez Maravilla was identified as a suspect, the CHP looked at his social media accounts, which led investigators to Lopez, who was interviewed later that night. Lopez 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.

Lopez and Guerrero were arrested Oct. 10 and were booked on suspicion of accessory to felony hit and run and misdemeanor destruction of evidence, Sgt. David Salcido said.

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

This story was originally published October 15, 2018 at 2:51 PM.