Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have arrested a 47-year-old man in connection with the fatal hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian in south Charlotte, in what police and jail records describe as the arrest the department was still seeking earlier this week.
Source: Charlotte Focal
On November 11, Awaaz Punjab reported that police had located the red Mercedes-Benz involved in this crash but had not yet identified or arrested the driver. Police have now announced an arrest and charges in the same case. Read the earlier report
Jeremy Gabriel Trujillo, 47, was taken into custody on Thursday, November 12, and charged in the death of 43-year-old Niceforo Garcia-Rufino, according to Mecklenburg County jail records reported by the Charlotte Focal and WCNC. He is being held on an $85,000 bond. The charges are allegations, and Trujillo is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Source: WCNC Charlotte via YouTube
The crash on East Arrowood Road
The collision happened at about 8:50 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, at the intersection of East Arrowood Road and Nations Ford Road in the Steele Creek division of south Charlotte, near Colony Acres Drive. Garcia-Rufino was found lying on East Arrowood Road after he was struck while crossing the road.
A preliminary investigation reported by WBTV and the Charlotte Observer said Garcia-Rufino was crossing East Arrowood Road outside a marked crosswalk when he was hit by a red Mercedes-Benz. Police said the driver was travelling above the posted speed limit, never stopped, and drove off east on East Arrowood Road toward South Boulevard.
Car found first, driver sought — then an arrest warrant
On Wednesday, November 11, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police reported that the red Mercedes-Benz had been identified and found, but the driver was still outstanding and had not been taken into custody. Police asked anyone with information to contact Detective D. Leung at 704-432-2169, extension 6, or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
The Charlotte Observer, in reporting republished on November 12, said Trujillo was charged in a November 12 arrest warrant with felony hit-and-run involving a death and misdemeanor reckless driving. Court records cited in that reporting place Trujillo's home about five miles northwest of the crash scene.
Felony hit-and-run involving a death, and misdemeanor reckless driving, according to the November 12 arrest warrant reported by the Charlotte Observer. Bond was reported at $85,000 from Mecklenburg County jail records.
What happens next will be Trujillo's court appearances in Mecklenburg County on those charges. Police have not, in the reporting available on Friday, announced any additional charges or said the investigation is closed, and the department had earlier described the investigation as ongoing while it sought the driver.
For residents of the Steele Creek area and for anyone who crosses East Arrowood Road on foot, the sequence matters: a pedestrian was killed on November 10, the car was found the next day with no driver in custody, and only on November 12 did police move from seeking a driver to holding a named defendant on a felony charge — a step that now puts the case, and the allegations behind it, before a court.