Man Arrested in Hit-and-Run That Killed 2

A Los Angeles man was arrested Tuesday in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed two sisters who had stopped to lend a hand at an accident scene on the Pomona Freeway.

The suspect, identified as Jesus Delfino Mendoza Martinez, 32, was arrested at his home as he packed belongings and apparently was preparing to leave town, said California Highway Patrol Capt. Jeff Talbott.

Mendoza, a garment factory worker, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and felony driving under the influence, Talbott said.

The crash, which claimed the lives of Fabiola and Laura Gudino, was among a spate of hit-and-run crashes around the region in recent days. Laura, 21, was studying education at Cal State L.A., and Fabiola, 18, had recently started at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. The sisters, both of whom worked as teacher aides, were described as inseparable.

Investigators got a break in the case when the suspect’s blood-stained car was discovered abandoned early Tuesday on Atlantic Boulevard, not far from where the fatal crash took place in Monterey Park.

The 1983 Ford sedan bore numerous dents and a shattered windshield that police said were the result of the crash Sunday morning.

The sisters were struck shortly before 2 a.m. as they walked along a freeway lane to offer assistance to the driver of a Toyota sport-utility vehicle that had overturned in the westbound lanes near Atlantic Boulevard.

Police said the hit-and-run driver swerved to avoid the overturned vehicle and struck the two women, along with a friend, before veering into the center dividing wall and then fleeing.

The friend, Pedro Hernandez, 24, of Lynwood, was injured. A fourth person was unhurt. The group was returning from a party in Hernandez’s Thunderbird.

Talbott said investigators checked several addresses before they were led to Mendoza’s employer, a clothing factory in Los Angeles. The employer, who said Mendoza had telephoned early Tuesday to say he was quitting, steered officers to the suspect’s home.

Talbott said Mendoza denied his involvement in the crash even before the investigating officers brought up the topic.

“His initial statement . . . was that he didn’t know anything about the accident on the freeway,” Talbott said.

Talbott said Mendoza, who was the registered owner of the car, did not have a driver’s license.

The couple with whom the suspect shared a home told investigators he had been drinking beer all day and during the evening before the fatal crash, Talbott said.

The crash occurred during an unusual string of fatal hit-and-run accidents over the weekend.

A 5-year-old boy was killed in South-Central Los Angeles on Sunday, the same day an 18-year-old bicyclist died after he was struck Saturday in downtown Los Angeles.

A 49-year-old pedestrian also was killed Sunday by a hit-and-run driver who ran a red light in downtown Los Angeles. That driver was arrested and booked on suspicion of manslaughter.