Hit-Run Suspect Seized at CHP Office

An Antelope Valley man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with a hit-and-run fatality after he went to a California Highway Patrol office to report that his pickup truck had been damaged in an accident, authorities said.

David Arnold, 49, of Quartz Hill was taken into custody in the death of John D. Zumwalt, 35, of Lancaster, who was struck about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday while attempting to walk across Avenue I, just west of 10th Street West and dragged nearly 100 feet.

When Arnold went to the Lancaster CHP office Tuesday afternoon, Sgt. Richard Wood said, officers noticed that his truck matched the description of the one that struck Zumwalt. Wood said investigators at the scene found evidence linking Arnold’s truck to the accident.

Witnesses told deputies that the hit-and run driver drove onto a curb in an apparent attempt to dislodge Zumwalt’s body from the undercarriage, Wood said.