Arrest made in hit-and-run that killed mother and dog, injured daughter, SJ police say
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Police in San Jose have identified and arrested a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run over the weekend, the department announced on Monday evening.
The name of the suspect has not been released, but police have promised to follow up with a press release.
Earlier police said they believed they had located the vehicle suspected in the crime.
Police had previously released a description of a car that fled after hitting a mother and her daughter while they were walking their dog Sunday evening.
The mother and the dog died at the scene, and the daughter was hospitalized after being hit about 6:50 p.m. while walking in a marked crosswalk across Blossom Hill Road in the area of Leigh Avenue.
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The mother was identified as 45-year-old Cao Limin of Los Gatos.
Several residents in the neighborhood walked from home to drop flowers by the intersection.
"Just to do a little something. To let her and her family know we care," Traci Pickering said.
Pickering said she walks across that same crosswalk with her dog, her family and friends. As a mother, Pickering was emotional talking about what happened to Limin and her daughter.
"I have a 13-year-old daughter. I can't imagine what she must be feeling," Pickering said.
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Zorelle Guerra goes to Leigh High School down the street.
"A car is a weapon, not you know something you just have fun with, and I just got my license and I think this just showed me to be more careful when I'm driving," Guerra said.
Colin Heyne, the public information manager for the San Jose Department of Transportation, said the particular intersection of Blossom Hill Road and Leigh is not a troubling intersection for the city. But Heyne did say a stretch of Blossom Hill is considered deadly.
"Blossom Hill itself is one of our Vision Zero Priority Safety Corridors. Priority Safety Corridors are 17 street segments throughout San Jose that are responsible for more deaths in severe traffic injuries then the rest of the street network combined," Heyne said.
So far this year, Heyne said fatality numbers are far below what they were in 2022.
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"At this point last year we had 24 people who had already lost their lives on the streets. This year, in 2023 we've hat six fatalities so far," Heyne said.
San Jose Police said an automated license plate reader identified the car after a concerned citizen reported seeing a "suspicious" vehicle.
The vehicle was processed for evidence, SJPD said on Twitter.
The car was a 2000 green or blue Honda four-door sedan, possibly driven by a woman, headed west on Blossom Hill Road, police said Monday afternoon.
The woman's name has not been released by the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office.
The collision marks the city's fourth pedestrian death this year.
Anyone with information on the collision is urged to contact Detective Bowen #4461 of the San Jose Police Department's Traffic Investigations Unit at 4461@sanjoseca.gov or (408) 277-4654.
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