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Escondido police: The Escondido City Council has approved the police department's military equipment policy. Courtesy photo/EPD
Escondido Police Department. Courtesy photo
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Suspect arrested in fatal hit-and-run crash in Escondido

ESCONDIDO — A 42-year-old hit-and-run suspect was arrested Wednesday morning in connection with a crash that killed a pedestrian last year in Escondido after a seven-month search, authorities said.

The crash occurred in the morning on Sept. 17 when the suspect, identified as Lair Marin Salas, an Escondido resident, fatally hit 58-year-old Miguel Leonides Garcia with a truck as he was walking to work at the intersection of Mission Avenue and Broadway, according to the Escondido Police Department.

“Investigators spent hundreds of hours investigating this crime,” Interim Chief of Police Ryan Banks said in a statement. “Through their expertise, attention to detail and analysis of the evidence, justice will be
served for the victim’s family.”

Salas was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run.

It was unclear if the victim was struck in a marked crosswalk.

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