Woodland police have released a description of the vehicle believed to have been involved in a hit-and-collision that killed a 65-year-old man walking his dog last week on Mariposa Street.
Sgt. Brett Hancock said police are searching for a newer-model, dark-colored Dodge Ram pickup that likely has damage to the front of its driver’s side.
The vehicle was traveling southbound on Mariposa Street at Utah Avenue shortly after 3:30 a.m. when it hit Richard Louis Tafoya, who was walking his pet German shepherd Heidi at the time. Tafoya died at the scene; his dog was treated for injuries at the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital but survived.
Anyone with information about the pickup or the person who may have been driving it is urged to call the Woodland Police Department at 530-666-2411.
Images of the fleeing pickup were captured on security cameras installed outside a home near the collision scene.
“He was scared. You could tell when he drove — he flew by here,” Russ Pascual, who lives at the Mariposa Street home, told The Enterprise last week. “Whoever it was, he wanted to get the heck out of here.”
According to Pascual, the video showed that the driver veered sharply to the right, nearly striking the west sidewalk outside Pascual’s house, then ran a stop sign where Mariposa Street meets Woodland Avenue.
Relatives said Tafoya had been living in the neighborhood for several years, moving in with his sister following the death of her husband. He was a lifelong Woodland resident who worked part-time at O’Reilly Auto Parts.
“He was a good guy,” Tafoya’s brother, David Saucedo, said in an interview last Thursday, just hours after the collision. “He had no enemies. He was well-liked by everybody.”
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene