The suspect in a February hit-and-run collision that killed a tow-truck driver on Highway 50 is due in court Monday for arraignment.
Yolo County prosecutors issued a warrant charging Ronald Freeman Demello, 62, of Stockton, with hit-and-run resulting in death and using a cell phone while driving, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He is currently free on $100,000 bail.
Demello’s arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Department 1 of Yolo Superior Court.
A big-rig driver, Demello is suspected of striking and killing Dixon resident Michael “Mikey” Bower, a married father of two young daughters whose tow truck had become disabled on westbound Highway 50 in West Sacramento on the night of Feb. 23.
Bower, 29, had been on the job for Octavio’s Towing out of Dixon when his flatbed tow truck began leaking coolant near the Jefferson Boulevard exit. His boss went to the scene to help him repair the problem, and California Highway Patrol investigators believe Bower was struck by the big-rig while packing up the emergency reflectors he had set onto the roadway.