California Highway Patrol investigators are hoping a piece of debris found at the scene of a fatal hit and run will help generate new leads.
Miguel Gutierrez, 34, of Norwalk, was trying to help his nephew who was out of gas on the 91 Freeway in Cerritos when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver early Sunday morning, family members said.
Gutierrez was on his way home from Disneyland when he stopped on the shoulder of the eastbound 91 Freeway near Studebaker Road just after midnight, his wife Lorraine Barajas said. Barajas said a truck struck her car, then hit her husband and dragged him on the freeway, without ever trying to stop.
Using debris found at the scene, traffic investigators now believe the truck that hit him was a 1992 to 1997 two-axle, International 4700 cab/chassis commercial truck.
The hit-and-run vehicle was described as a white truck that likely has front-end damage on the passenger side, California Highway Patrol Officials said.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
Barajas said she took Gutierrez to Disneyland to celebrate that he finished his automotive courses at Cerritos College recently. The couple had been married for three years but have known each other since high school, she said.
There were other relatives in the car who witnessed the fatal crash.
Anyone who with information on that truck or the driver is urged to call the CHP in Santa Fe Springs at 562-868-0503.