Woman killed during Sanger police pursuit identified. Officers say her last act was heroic
A Sanger woman has died after she was run over by a fleeing SUV during a police pursuit.
According to Sanger police, an officer was in the area of Faller Avenue and 10th Street just after 6 p.m. Tuesday when they saw a red SUV driving erratically in the neighborhood. The vehicle pulled to the curb and a passenger exited the vehicle and discarded a firearm in a yard, police said.
The passenger got back in the SUV and the driver sped away.
The officer tried to pull over the vehicle, but the driver continued leading the pursuit with speeds nearing 80 mph. Police said the driver intentionally crossed the center line on 5th Street into the path of a responding police unit.
The police vehicle made an evasive maneuver to avoid being struck head-on. The fleeing SUV continued on Greenwood Avenue and attempted to turn right onto westbound Almond Avenue, but the driver lost control and drove over the curb and into the driveway of a home, where a 65-year-old woman and a young child were standing.
Police said the woman saw the SUV approaching and pushed the child out of the way but the woman was struck by the SUV, pinning her under the vehicle. The SUV came to a stop when it hit the house.
The woman, identified by police as Minerva Camacho of Sanger, was rushed to a local hospital for severe injuries and was pronounced dead after 11 p.m. The child was not injured.
The driver and passenger fled on foot before officers arrested Salmon Zaragoza, 31, of Sanger. The driver, identified as 22-year-old Manuel Adrian Valencia of Sanger, was arrested after he was found by a police dog in a backyard.
Valencia was booked into Fresno County Jail on multiple charges, including gross vehicular manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, felony evading of a police officer resulting in death, child endangerment and other related charges. His bail is $425,000.
Zaragoza is facing charges of resisting arrest, felony hit and run, and possession of a firearm. His bail is set at $105,000.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 5:21 PM.
