Suspect arrested in hit-and-run that killed 83-year-old Fresno man in wheelchair

A man who allegedly hit and killed an 83-year-old man with his truck in east-central Fresno on Monday was arrested Thursday, police said.

Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez said Edgar Ernesto Rueda, 21, admitted to investigators that he was driving the 2005 Dodge Ram truck that hit and killed Jose Rodriguez, of Fresno. Police learned of his involvement from a tip called in at 11 p.m. Wednesday. The truck was impounded as evidence.

Rodriguez was in his electric wheelchair while crossing Cedar Avenue in a westbound direction near Floradora Avenue around noon when the pickup hit him. Witnesses reported the truck and a dark gray Acura may have been racing during the time of the accident, and neither vehicle stopped after Rodriguez was hit.

Rueda told police that he wasn’t racing the Acura — he sped up to keep the car from passing him.

Gomez said Rueda had a previous charge of reckless driving stemming from a June 7 arrest. For his alleged role in the hit-and-run, he was booked on charges of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, felony hit and run causing death and reckless driving with an injury.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Suspect arrested in hit-and-run that killed 83-year-old Fresno man in wheelchair."