Authorities Monday publicly identified a 27-year-old construction worker who was killed last week when a hit-and-run driver’s car struck him on a rural road a few miles west of Harrah’s Resort Southern California.
Manuel Leon of Fallbrook was working as a traffic flagman at a work site in the 14500 block of Cool Valley Road in Valley Center when an eastbound Toyota Corolla hit him shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office and California Highway Patrol.
Following the fatal impact, the motorist continued driving and left the area, CHP public-affairs Officer Hunter Gerber said.
Paramedics took Leon to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where he was pronounced dead about 4 1/2 hours later.
The next day, CHP investigators arrested the man who allegedly was driving the car that struck the victim. Ruperto Jesus Lopez, 77, was booked into county jail in Vista on suspicion of hit-and-run causing death and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
A GoFundMe page created to raise funds for Leon’s family states he leaves behind a wife, 7-year-old daughter, 4-year-old son and a baby boy due in May. The page can be viewed here.
City News Service contributed to this article.