Tustin Worker Is Arrested Over Hit-and-Run Death
A Tustin municipal worker was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of a woman who police believe was run over in a city park.
Victor Blas, 43, is suspected of felony hit and run in the death of Jerie Yassi, 59, of Lake Forest, whose body was found about 5 p.m. on June 6 in Peppertree Park, police said.
“Our assumption is that she was lying down in the grass” when she was hit, said Sgt. Mark Hein, a spokesman for the Tustin Police Department.
Investigators determined that the cause of death was consistent with injuries caused by an automobile, Hein said.
They then found that Blas -- a field services worker whose job includes maintenance at the park on the 200 block of West First Street -- was on duty driving a city truck at the time of the accident, Hein said.
“We’re comfortable,” Hein said, “in saying that if he didn’t know that he hit her -- or hit something -- he should have.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
