Mesa police arrested a man they say is responsible for a fatal hit-and-run incident early Sunday morning, during which one of the victims' legs was severed.
The leg, however, was not found at the scene.
Police suspected the leg might have become attached to the vehicle that hit the two 25-year-old victims, but Mesa Sergeant Ed Wessing says the vehicle has been recovered, and 27-year-old Jose DeJesus Padilla-Rodriguez is in custody for the hit-and-run, but the leg is still missing.
Padilla-Rodriguez was arrested yesterday afternoon after a concerned
Mesa woman recognized a damaged car parked in her apartment complex that
was similar to one she'd heard about in the media in connection with
the hit and run.
When police arrived, they found a green Toyota Celica with damage
consistent with a car that had recently run over two grown men -- there
was damage to the windshield, dents, and both side mirrors had been
knocked off.
As police approached the car, a windshield repair man was already there
assessing the damage. Police found the man to whom the car was
registered and paid him a visit.
The owner of the car told police he'd loaned it to his friend,
Padilla-Rodriguez, and it was never returned. Padilla-Rodriguez, Wessing
says, told the owner of the vehicle the car had been stolen.
When police contacted Padilla-Rodriguez, he confirmed the car owner's
story. He said he was driving the car and he knew he'd hit the two men
(although, he told police he thought one of the people he hit was a
woman), and that he didn't bother to stop.
Padilla-Rodriguez was booked on two counts of failure to stop at a
serious injury or fatal collision, and two counts of failure to remain
at a serious injury or fatal collision.
The leg, as we mentioned, is still missing.
